Sale of Shares in Quest Diagn

RNS Number : 1813P

GlaxoSmithKline PLC

19 March 2009

 

Issued: Thursday, March 19, 2009, London UK

GlaxoSmithKline Announces Sale of Shares in Quest Diagnostics Inc.

GlaxoSmithKline plc (the "Group") announces today that it has sold 5,749,157 shares of common stock, par value of $0.01 per share (the "Shares"), of Quest Diagnostics Inc. ("Quest"). 

The sale of the Shares was achieved partly through market sales under Rule 144 of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, and, partly through a sale directly to Quest. Details of these transactions are provided below.

During the period 17th March to 19th March 2009, 1,237,500 Quest shares were sold in the market, as follows:

Date	Number of Shares	Aggregate Price	Average Price
17th March 2009	500,000	$22,749,150	$45.50
18th March 2009	500,000	$22,852,050	$45.70
19th March 2009	237,500	$10,541,960	$44.39
Total	1,237,500	$56,143,160	$45.37

In addition to the market sales detailed above, on 19th March 2009, 4,511,657 Quest shares were sold back to Quest for $44.33 per share, for an aggregate price of approximately $200 million.  

The Shares were sold as part of a gradual reduction in the Group's holding and to take advantage of Quest's recently expanded share repurchase programme. The Group originally acquired the Shares following the sale of the Group's clinical laboratories business to Quest in 1999.

Following the sale of the Shares, the Group holds 30,755,151 shares of common stock in Quest, being approximately 16.5% of the issued share capital of Quest, with a market value of approximately $1.36 billion.

S M Bicknell 

Company Secretary 

19 March 2009

GlaxoSmithKline - one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies - is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. For further information please visit www.gsk.com

Enquiries:
UK Media enquiries:	Philip Thomson	[phone]
	David Outhwaite	[phone]
	Stephen Rea	[phone]
US Media enquiries:	Nancy Pekarek	[phone]
	Mary Anne Rhyne	[phone]
	Kevin Colgan	[phone]
	Sarah Alspach	[phone]
European Analyst/Investor enquiries:	David Mawdsley	[phone]
	Sally Ferguson	[phone]
	Gary Davies	[phone]
US Analyst/ Investor enquiries:	Tom Curry	[phone]
	Jen Hill	[phone]

Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements Under the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, GSK cautions investors that any forward-looking statements or projections made by GSK, including those made in this announcement, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Factors that may affect GSK' s operations are described under 'Risk Factors' in the 'Business Review' in the company' s Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2008.

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