Unilever won’t up £50b offer for GSK-Pfizer unit

Consumer goods giant Unilever on Wednesday said it would not increase a £50-billion offer for the consumer healthcare unit owned by pharmaceutical groups GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer.

British group GSK at the weekend said it had received three unsolicited offers from Unilever for GSK Consumer Healthcare -- all of which were rejected for being too low. 

US company Pfizer owns a minority stake in the unit.

“Unilever is committed to maintaining strict financial discipline to ensure that acquisitions create value for our shareholders,” it said in a statement Wednesday, adding that it would not raise the offer above £50 billion ($68 billion).

British company Unilever on Monday said its “future strategic direction lies in materially expanding its presence in health, beauty and hygiene”. 

GSK Consumer Healthcare’s leading products include Sensodyne toothpaste, pain relief drug Panadol and cold treatment Theraflu.

Unilever’s major offerings include Magnum ice cream, Cif surface cleaner and Dove soap.

“Unilever... reiterates its commitment to continuing to improve the performance of its existing portfolio through its ongoing focus on operational excellence, its upcoming reorganisation and by rotating the portfolio to higher growth categories,” it added Wednesday.

Unilever recently agreed to sell its global tea business, including brands Lipton and PG Tips, for 4.5 billion euros to private equity group CVC Capital Partners.

Ahead of Unilever appearing to have closed the door on the healthcare unit, analysts said private equity groups would likely be interested in bidding for GSK Consumer Healthcare.