By Stine Jacobsen and Maggie Fick
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Norway’s sovereign wealth fund said on Monday it will abstain from voting on Novo Nordisk’s new board chair or other nominees at the obesity drugmaker’s extraordinary shareholder meeting this week, adding to pressure over governance at the company.
Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund and Novo’s third-largest shareholder, disclosed the decision to abstain from voting without giving a reason. A spokesperson declined to comment. NBIM held a 1.79% stake in Novo on June 30 valued at $5.54 billion, according to its latest portfolio update.
DUAL ROLE OF INCOMING BOARD CHAIR
The shareholder vote follows a boardroom shake-up at Wegovy and Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk that is set to hand unprecedented control to its majority owner, the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
The foundation plans to install its own chair, Lars Rebien Sorensen, as chair of the company at Friday’s meeting. The dual role for Sorensen, who led Novo as CEO from 2000 to 2016, is rattling some investors despite calls for stronger leadership at the Danish drugmaker.
Current Novo Chair Helge Lund and six other independent directors will step down at Friday’s meeting after clashing with the foundation over the pace of change at the company.
The foundation, which controls 77% of Novo’s voting rights via its investment arm Novo Holdings, declined to comment on NBIM’s stance. Novo Nordisk did not immediately comment.
NOVO LOSING GROUND TO ELI LILLY
The boardroom clash has added to the turmoil this year at Novo, whose shares are down 51% since the start of 2025 as rival Eli Lilly grabbed market share in the lucrative weight-loss drug market.
Analysts say the foundation’s push amounts to “carte blanche” control and represents a break from its traditional “arm’s length” approach, as Novo struggles to regain momentum in the sector.
Novo last week trimmed its full-year forecasts for the fourth time this year.
NOVO LOSES OUT ON METSERA
Shares in Novo Nordisk rose 3% in early trade on Monday, after it lost out to U.S. pharma giant Pfizer in a dramatic bidding war for U.S. obesity drug developer Metsera.
Markus Manns, portfolio manager at Novo shareholder Union Investment, told Reuters the company did damage to its reputation in its hostile bid for Metsera, in particular the unorthodox deal structure it proposed.
“We expect Novo to improve their risk management and use their cash more carefully,” he said.
(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen and Maggie Fick in London, additional reporting by Gwladys Fouche in Oslo and Soren Jeppesen in CopenhagenEditing by Terje Solsvik and Susan Fenton)
