Yahoo Finance GSK pulls out of $20bn race for Pfizer assets
GlaxoSmithKline has withdrawn from a $20bn (£14bn) contest to buy Pfizer’s consumer healthcare division, a day after fellow FTSE 100 firm Reckitt Benckiser also dropped out from the bidding.
The move puts Pfizer’s sale plans for its unit in jeopardy with no other major company linked with a bid, after Johnson & Johnson and Nestlé pulled out at an earlier stage.
Pfizer’s consumer health division makes products including Chapstick lip balm, Centrum vitamins and Seven Seas supplements.
The US giant said it would “continue to evaluate” options for the division, including a spin-off, sale or other transaction, or ultimately keeping it. It expects to make a decision by the end of this year.
GSK chief executive Emma Walmsley said her firm would continue to review potential takeover opportunities, but that they “must meet our criteria for returns” and not jepordise its commitment to paying shareholders a dividend.
Investors welcomed the news, sending the company’s shares up nearly 4pc. Pfizer shares were down 0.7pc in early trading in New York.
Reckitt, which makes healthcare and cleaning products including Clearasil and Air Wick, said yesterday it had withdrawn from the contest as it did not want to acquire the whole division and had failed to persuade Pfizer to sell just part of it. The company was reportedly most interested in buying the Advil pain relief brand.
Its shares also jumped following the announcement, finishing yesterday up 4.8pc.
