Glaxo to bid for Pfizer unit
Reuters, London
GlaxoSmithKline Plc is to bid more than $15 billion for the consumer healthcare business of U.S. rival Pfizer Inc, people familiar with the situation said on Friday.The move raises the bar in the auction for the $3.88-billion-a-year over-the-counter (OTC) medicines unit, whose top-selling brands include Listerine mouthwash, Sudafed decongestant and Rolaids antacid. Previously, analysts had estimated the business would sell for around $14 billion, or 3.6 times 2005 sales, similar to the multiple paid by Reckitt Benckiser Plc for Boots Healthcare International last year. Glaxo lost out in that sale.
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