Woodford's flagship equity income fund was suspended in June after a rash of redemptions to give him time to sell less liquid assets and position to pay back any investors who seek to leave when it reopens, expected in December.

Currently the second-biggest investor in IP Group with a 13.4% stake, Refinitiv data showed, Woodford plans to sell the 142 million shares to institutional investors, bookrunner Bank of America Merrill Lynch said.

Berenberg and Numis Securities Limited are acting as co-lead managers.

Shares in IP Group, which has a market capitalisation of 670 million pounds, closed Tuesday down 2.5% at 61.4 pence a share. It has fallen 43% since the start of the year.

(Reporting by Simon Jessop; editing by Carolyn Cohn)