Unilever completes GSK Bangladesh acquisition

Unilever announced the successful completion of acquiring 81.98 per cent shares of GlaxoSmithKline Bangladesh (GSKBD) on Tuesday, BSS reports.

Unilever Overseas Holdings B.V, a concern of Unilever, took over a total of 9875,144 shares of GSKBD from the Setfirst on the block market at Dhaka Stock Exchange on Sunday which is the largest transaction in the history of country’s capital market, said a press release today.

“Today marks the day we have been waiting for a long time as successfully completed the acquisition of GSK Consumer Healthcare business in Bangladesh even amidst a global crisis,” said Unilever Bangladesh CEO and Managing Director Kedar Lele in a statement.

The remaining 18 per cent stake is owned by the general and institutional investors.

This acquisition was announced on 3 December, 2018 which was subjected to obtaining necessary approvals. Under the acquisition, Unilever got the ownership of GSK’s iconic health food and drinks (HFD) portfolio brands including Horlicks, Boost, and Glaxose-D.

This mega deal will bolster Unilever’s focus to build a profitable and sustainable nutrition business in Bangladesh and support government’s national agenda to combat malnutrition in all its forms.

Unilever said improving health and wellbeing of 1 billion people by 2020 is a key pillar in its sustainable living plan. Horlicks and Boost will add to UBL’s stable of purpose driven brands that help consumers to get more out of their lives.

“We will uphold the high-science Nutrition values that you have created in GSK and further amplify it with the high technology orientation of Unilever,” said Kedar Lele.

GSKBD will continue as an entity with a new name and all the products (Horlicks, Boost, Glaxose-D) in the market will continue to be the entity’s products.