refused GlaxoSmithKline GSKLast year, an offer from Unilever to buy the pharmaceutical company’s consumer healthcare unit valued the company at nearly 50 billion pounds ($68 billion).
Glaxo said in a statement on Saturday that it had received 3 rejected offers from Unilever for consumer healthcare business, the latest of which was on December 20 for 41.7 billion pounds in cash and 8.3 billion pounds in Unilever shares.
In a statement, the company indicated its rejection of the three offers because they essentially underestimated the value of the consumer healthcare business and its future prospects, according to what Al Arabiya.net had seen.
Unilever is still interested and could come back with a new offer, although no final decision has been made, according to sources familiar with the discussions who spoke to Bloomberg, and Glaxo’s board still favors a plan to launch the business that includes brands such as Sensodyne toothpaste and painkillers. Pain Advil is in a separate company from the parent company.
The potential acquisition will rank among the largest acquisitions globally since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, and comes at a time when merger and acquisition activity is at an all-time high. The deal will speed up the transformation of two of the UK’s largest companies, each of which faces pressure from shareholders to improve performance.
With analysts valuing Glaxo’s consumer business at up to £48 billion, any successful bid from Unilever is likely to include a significant premium above that level, as well as looking at synergies, to lure Glaxo away from the split plan, which is already in the advanced stage.
Glaxo’s dental portfolio is the main attraction of the company’s consumer portfolio, offering the greatest growth rate because almost all other companies and brands are either losing momentum or growing slowly.
The consumer health unit took on its current form in 2019 after a deal with Pfizer, which retains a minority stake. Glaxo said it expects the unit to achieve “annual growth in organic sales in the range of 4%-6% over the medium term”.