MILANO – Two giants in the middle of shareholder fire to make them more profitable. A purchase proposal worth 50 billion pounds, almost 60 billion euros at the current exchange rate, but for the time being sent back to the sender.
At the end of 2021 Unilever approached GlaxoSmithKline for the potential acquisition of a joint venture that the pharmaceutical group has with Pfizer for mass-market goods (painkillers and oral hygiene, above all) offering around 50 billion pounds, potentially one of the largest takeovers never made on the London square. He confirmed this – without going into the details of the potential acquisition, initially leaked on Sunday Times – the giant of consumer products, specifying that “there is no certainty that an agreement will be reached” on the operation. Indeed, according to reports Bloomberg citing sources familiar with the dossier, GSK would have already rejected the proposed acquisition last year. According to analysts, in fact, the valuation of the joint venture would be around 47-48 billion and therefore the proposed price would not include a sufficient premium.
Glaxo CEO Emma Walmsley, the financial agency recalls, was targeted by activist funds, such as Elliott, to consider divesting the consumer goods division. The company responded by hiring former Tesco director Dave Lewis, with the aim, however, of leading the division’s spin-off and its stock market listing, scheduled for this year. But the eyes of private equity had already settled on that part of Gks’ business, with names like Advent, Cvc and Kkr, known in Italy for Tim’s game.
The subject of the acquisition is GSK Consumer Healthcare, one of the leaders in consumer pharmaceuticals, in which GSK was preparing a spinoff to list it in London in 2022 and in which Pfizer holds a 32% stake. In Italy, we read on its website, it is present with some of the best-known brands in the fields of oral hygiene, including Polident, Sensodyne and Parodontax, free movement and breathing, such as Voltaren Emulgel and Rinazina.
The operation, if it goes through, according to the Financial Times it would only be exceeded in value by the acquisition of Mannesmann by Vodafone in 1999 and by that of SABMiller by InBev in 2016. It is not known, for now, whether Unilever will return to the position by improving its offer. Certainly even the soap giant Dove and ice cream Magnum has its own thing to do with the shareholders: according to the funds, the management has focused too much on sustainability and has lost sight of its objective which, according to them, would be profitable. for shareholders.