Reckitt Benckiser Ends Talks to Buy Pfizer's Consumer Health-Care Business
March 22 2018 - 2:52AM
Dow Jones News
By Carlo Martuscelli
Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (RB.LN) said Thursday that it has
ended discussions about its potential acquisition of Pfizer Inc.'s
(PFE) consumer health-care business.
The consumer-goods company said it had only been looking to buy
part of the business because the whole unit did not meet its
acquisition criteria, but this had turned out to be impossible.
"Our priority remains organic growth, including the completion
of the integration of Mead Johnson Nutrition and creating further
value from reorganizing into two new business units--Health and
Hygiene Home," Reckitt Benckiser Chief Executive Rakesh Kapoor
said.
Pfizer said last October that it was considering a sale or
spinoff of its over-the-counter unit, which makes Advil ibuprofen
and Centrum multivitamin pills. The unit is expected to fetch more
than $10 billion, according to analysts.
This leaves GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK.LN) in the running to buy
the unit. The pharmaceutical major said in October said it was
considering a bid for the unit should the U.S. company put it up
for sale.
Write to Carlo Martuscelli at carlo.martuscelli@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 22, 2018 03:37 ET (07:37 GMT)
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