GlaxoSmithKline seeking bids for Indian consumer healthcare business: report

According to people familiar with the matter, GlaxoSmithKline has sent out an information memorandum with preliminary details about its Indian consumer healthcare business to potential suitors and is seeking bids for the unit by the middle of next month, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. The sources, who estimated the business could fetch more than $4 billion, said Nestlé and Reckitt Benckiser have shown interest in a potential sale. 

The news comes after GlaxoSmithKline reached a deal in March to acquire Novartis' minority stake in the companies' consumer healthcare joint venture formed in 2015. The UK drugmaker said at the time that it was initiating a strategic review of Horlicks and its other consumer healthcare nutrition products as part of efforts to fund the transaction. 

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The assets being considered in the review include GlaxoSmithKline's 72.5-percent stake in its India-listed consumer healthcare unit. The people said the drugmaker's review is also evaluating its 82-percent holding in GlaxoSmithKline Bangladesh, as well as commercialisation rights to some consumer-health brands in other emerging markets, including Malaysia. People familiar with the matter noted that there is no assurance the review will lead to a transaction, as the drugmaker could decide to retain the assets.

Representatives for GlaxoSmithKline, Reckitt Benckiser and Nestlé declined to comment on the rumours.

Meanwhile, the news also follows recent speculation that GlaxoSmithKline could spin off its pharmaceutical and vaccines assets into a standalone company. Former CEO Andrew Witty had previously hinted that the company's consumer healthcare business could exist on its own, although he later indicated that the drugmaker would not be pressured into an early divestiture of the unit. 

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