Oct 4 (Reuters) – Sandoz (SDZ.S) made its market debut with a lower-than-expected valuation of 10.3 billion Swiss francs ($11.2 billion) on Wednesday, after the generic and biosimilar drugmaker was spun off from Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis (NOVN.S).

Analysts had previously published a wide range of higher valuation estimates. Deutsche Bank had said Sandoz, which accounted for 11% of Novartis’ group operating profit in 2022, would likely be valued at $11-$13 billion, while brokerage Berenberg had forecast $17-$26 billion.

The shares, which opened at 24 Swiss francs, became members of the Swiss Performance Index and the Swiss Leader Index, among other stock market gauges, and American depositary receipts also started trading on Wednesday.

Novartis shareholders received one Sandoz share for every five Novartis shares they held as part of the transaction.

Novartis Chief Executive Vas Narasimhan said in a statement that Sandoz was starting out from a position of strength as a global leader in generics and biosimilars.

($1 = 0.9200 Swiss francs)

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