Novo Nordisk A/S purchases B shares worth DKK 4.2 billion from Novo A/S

Novo Nordisk A/S has today entered into an agreement to purchase 5,100,000 B shares (nominal DKK 1) of a value of DKK 4.2 billion from Novo A/S as part of the ongoing DKK 12.0 billion share repurchase programme for a 12 month period beginning 2 February 2012. The transaction price is set to DKK 823.11 per share and has been calculated as the average market price from 27 April to 1 May in the open trading window following the announcement of Novo Nordisk’s financial results for the first quarter of 2012.

Novo A/S will thereby readjust its ownership of Novo Nordisk A/S to 25.5%, equal to the level of ownership prior to the cancellation of treasury shares, which took place in April 2012.

The total shareholding of Novo A/S in Novo Nordisk A/S prior to the sale of B shares is 107,487,200 A shares (nominal DKK 1) and 40,412,800 B shares (nominal DKK 1), corresponding to 26.4% of the share capital and 73.0% of the votes. The transaction will reduce Novo A/S’ ownership of Novo Nordisk A/S to 25.5% of the capital and 72.7% of the votes.

Henrik Gürtler, CEO of Novo A/S, said: “Following the recent cancellation of treasury shares, Novo A/S has realigned its shareholding in Novo Nordisk A/S to the level of just over 25%, which has been our target since the demerger of Novozymes A/S in 2000. We remain a committed long-term majority shareholder of Novo Nordisk A/S.”

As of 2 May 2012, Novo Nordisk A/S has repurchased B shares amounting to DKK 6.7 billion during the period beginning 2 February 2012 when taking this transaction with Novo A/S into account. Novo Nordisk A/S and its wholly-owned affiliates now owns 13,201,726 of its own B shares of DKK 1, corresponding to a total nominal value of DKK 13,201,726 or 2.4% of the total share capital.