(Bloomberg) -- Pfizer Inc. board member James Kilts sold 86 percent of his Pfizer shares about the same time the company began talks to buy Wyeth, according to a regulatory filing that says the transaction occurred without his knowledge.
Kilts, 61, the former chief executive officer of Gillette Co., sold 13,905 Pfizer shares for $259,772 from June 3 to June 6, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing today. Kilts sold the shares for $18.99 to $18.30 each, at least 21 percent higher than today’s closing price of $14.38 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
Kilts’ portfolio manager sold the shares against Kilts’ instruction and without his knowledge, the filing said. Pfizer agreed Jan. 26 to buy Wyeth and cut its dividend in half. Both Pfizer and Wyeth said their negotiations began last summer, though they wouldn’t specify a date.
“Contrary to the direction of Jim Kilts’ explicit instructions not to engage in any transaction in Pfizer stock without his prior approval, Jim Kilts’ portfolio manager sold shares of Pfizer in early June 2008,” Pfizer spokesman Ray Kerins said in a statement. “Neither Mr. Kilts nor Pfizer was aware of these sales. Once Mr. Kilts became aware of these sales, he immediately notified Pfizer, and Pfizer made a prompt and appropriate disclosure on his behalf.”
Kilts still owns 2,200 Pfizer shares, the filing said.
The SEC requires company insiders to document share sales within two days. Kilts will be listed in Pfizer’s annual proxy statement as a late filer.
Kilts, the founding partner of private equity firm Centerview Partners LLP in New York, didn’t return a phone call left with his assistant.
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