Novartis discussing Roche stake sale, but not imminent -sources

The logo of Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis is seen on its headquarters building in Basel, Switzerland October 27, 2015.

Reuters/Arnd Wiegmann

Novartis (NOVN.S) is discussing options with banks for selling its 13.5 billion Swiss franc ($13.8 billion) stake in rival Roche (ROG.S), though a sale is not imminent, according to two people familiar with the situation.

"Sooner or later the stake will be sold and Novartis is talking to banks about how it could be done. But nothing is imminent," one source said. He added that an order book process with selected investors would probably be the "cleanest" process.

The second source said that Novartis had shown increased interest in planning for the sale of the stake in recent weeks.

Novartis, which describes its one-third stake in Roche's voting stock (RO.S) as a financial investment with a strategic component, declined to comment. Roche also declined comment.

(Reporting by Ben Hirschler in London and Joshia Franklin in Zurich)

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