- After Helene's destruction, North Carolina starts to rebuild
- Dockers end three-day strike at Montreal port
- What next for OpenAI after $157 billion bonanza?
- Israel-Hamas war causes 86-percent dive in Gaza GDP: IMF
- Milan's Morata moves house after Inter-fan town mayor 'violates' privacy
- 'Devastating' storm hits Augusta National but Masters will go on
- Relief in Brazil, Asia over delay to EU deforestation rules
- Oil prices jump, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Biden says 'discussing' possible Israeli strikes on Iran oil facilities
- Oil prices rise, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Oil rallies, stocks mostly retreat on Middle East tensions
- Phasing out teen smoking could save 1.2 mn lives: study
- 'Welcome relief': Asia producers hail EU deforestation law delay
- Japan PM slated to announce plans for 'happiness index'
- Turkish inflation falls less than expected in September at 49.4%
- Easing inflation lifts profit at UK supermarket Tesco
- Skiing calls on UN climate science to combat melting future
- China wine industry looks to breed climate resilience
- Tokyo rallies on weak yen, Hong Kong drops after surge
- Dutch airline KLM unveils 'firm' cost-cutting measures
- Carpe diem: the Costa Rican women turning fish into fashion
- Senegal looks to aquaculture as fish stocks dwindle
- Will AI one day win a Nobel Prize?
- Climate change, economics muddy West's drive to curb Chinese EVs
- Argentina's Milei vetoes university budget after huge protests
- TotalEnergies plans to grow oil and gas production until 2030
- 2024 Nobels offer glimmer of hope as global crises mount
- Tokyo rallies on weak yen, Hong Kong reverses after surge
- Tunisia readies for vote as incumbent Saied eyes victory
- High childcare costs in US weigh on women's employment
- US voters seek help with crushing childcare costs
- Taiwan shuts down for second day as Typhoon Krathon to land
- Supercharged storms: how climate change amplifies cyclones
- Biden official urges talks as US port strike enters second day
- Huge protests in Argentina over public university cuts
- Rally in oil prices loses steam on mixed day for global stocks
- South America treated to rare 'ring of fire' eclipse
- Biden official says port strike deal not as far as parties think
- Mexico's new president offers apology for 1968 student massacre
- Historic funding round values OpenAI at $157 billion
- Mixed US car sales in Q3 as industry hopes for post-election bounce
- Thunderstorms are a 'boiling pot' of gamma rays, scientists find
- Scientists unlock secret of 'Girl With Pearl Earring'
- Dolphins flash friendly grins when they're ready to play
- Facing backlash, EU moves to delay deforestation rules
- US private sector adds more jobs than expected in September: ADP
- Boys out of critical condition after Zurich stabbings
- Spain logs record summer tourism as inflow draws protests
- Hedi Slimane quits as Celine's artistic director
- Oil prices extend rally on Iran attack
RBGPF | -1.35% | 59.99 | $ | |
BCC | -0.9% | 138.29 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.16% | 24.74 | $ | |
SCS | -1.98% | 12.62 | $ | |
NGG | -2.7% | 66.97 | $ | |
RIO | -1.42% | 69.83 | $ | |
BTI | -2.45% | 35.11 | $ | |
AZN | -2.12% | 77.93 | $ | |
GSK | -2.81% | 38.37 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.16% | 24.89 | $ | |
JRI | -0.6% | 13.3 | $ | |
RYCEF | 1.15% | 6.98 | $ | |
BCE | -1.77% | 33.84 | $ | |
RELX | -1.46% | 46.61 | $ | |
VOD | -0.52% | 9.69 | $ | |
BP | 0.28% | 32.46 | $ |
GSK spin-off to create consumer healthcare giant
British drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline on Monday demerges its newly-named consumer healthcare unit Haleon, resulting in what is set to be London's largest new stock market listing in more than a decade.
The new company -- owning brands including Sensodyne toothpaste, pain relief drug Panadol and cold treatment Theraflu -- is set for a valuation of about £40 billion ($47.4 billion) when it begins trading on the London stock market, according to Bloomberg.
The major strategy shift by GSK chief executive Emma Walmsley comes after she has faced intense activist shareholder pressure over the company's delays in producing Covid jabs and treatments.
- 'Landmark London listing -
"This will be the largest London stock market listing in a decade, with the new company becoming a big beast with a new skin in the consumer goods world," said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
It is set to be the capital's biggest listing since Swiss mining giant Glencore was valued at £38 billion on entry in 2011.
GSK, which owns 68 percent of Haleon, plans to retain six percent of the group following the spin-off.
US pharmaceutical titan Pfizer has said it plans to sell its 32-percent minority stake.
Walmsley, who had led the consumer unit prior to her promotion as head of GSK in 2017, has described the demerger as the group's most significant corporate change in 20 years.
The split sees GSK "parcelling off a considerable quantity of its sizeable debt pile into Haleon, expected to be around £10 billion", Streeter said.
Haleon could join London's top-tier FTSE 100 depending on its market valuation.
Walmsley, part of a group of less than 10 women chief executives running companies on the benchmark index, sees more long-term value in the demerger than a sale.
GSK at the start of the year rejected a £50 billion bid for the unit from consumer goods titan Unilever.
- Vaccine push -
Alongside the demerger, GSK is expanding further into the field of vaccines, having in May snapped up US biopharmaceutical firm Affinivax for up to $3.3 billion.
Also this year, the British company spent $1.9 billion on US group Sierra Oncology, a specialist in medicines for rare forms of cancer.
Keith Bowman, analyst at Interactive Investor, said the demerger was aimed at giving GSK "increased management focus to each respective business".
This was the case "particularly for its pharma business which has underperformed rivals such as (Covid vaccine-maker) AstraZeneca over recent years", he told AFP.
GSK is set to receive £7 billion in dividends at separation.
The consumer healthcare division, whose portfolio of products includes also Centrum multivitamins and anti-inflammatory Voltaren, generates annual sales of about £10 billion.
Haleon will be headquartered in Weybridge, southwest of London.
"The idea is that a more focused consumer business will help boost sales," said Streeter.
"There will be no change at the top... which is a vote of confidence in Brian McNamara, a former Procter & Gamble executive who has led the division for eight years."
Ch.Lefebvre--CPN