Novo Nordisk purchases Novo shares

Novo Nordisk has announced the acquisition of a number of Novo shares as part of its ongoing share repurchase programme.

The company has acquired a total of 3,304,800 B shares worth a total of one billion Danish kroner ( 107 million pounds).

Each share has a nominal value of one Danish kroner, while the transaction price of 307.37 Danish kroner per share was calculated as the average market price from August 7th to August 13th in the open trading window after the company announced its financial results for the first half of 2008.

Following this acquisition, Novo has readjusted its ownership of Novo Nordisk to 25.5 per cent, equal to the level in June 2008 before the cancellation of treasury shares.

Henrik Gurtler, chief executive officer of Novo, said: “Following the recent cancellation of treasury shares, Novo has re-aligned its shareholding in Novo Nordisk to the level of just over 25 per cent, which has been our target since the demerger of Novozymes in 2000.”

He added the company remains a dedicated long-term majority shareholder in Novo Nordisk.

Earlier this month, Novo Nordisk reported a 13 per cent rise in sales during the first half of 2008, driven by a 30 per cent rise in sales of modern insulins.