Novartis AG is reportedly looking to sell its stake in Roche Holding AG but Novartis' Chief Executive Officer, Joe Jimenez has played down talks saying that Novartis was looking to sell its one-third voting stake in Roche, and certainly not at its current market price. “It's a strategic purchase,” Jimenez said. “What we mean is the value of that stake is worth more than the market price today.

Today, you couldn't recreate a 30% stake in a company like Roche by purchasing on the open market.”