GSK's consumer healthcare unit to be called 'Haleon' following proposed demerger

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has announced that the proposed demerger of its consumer healthcare unit will result in a new company – Haleon.

The demerger is scheduled for mid-2022 after which Haleon, headquartered in Weybridge, UK, will attain a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange, with ADRs to be listed in the US.

The new Weybridge campus is expected to open at the end of 2024 and alongside being the new company’s corporate headquarters, it will also be a centre of R&D and innovation and home to a new state-of-the-art Shopper Science Lab.

Haleon (pronounced "Hay-Lee-On") is inspired by the merging of the words 'Hale', which is an old English word that means 'in good health' and Leon, which is associated with the word 'strength'.

The new brand identity was developed with inputs from employees, healthcare practitioners and consumers, and will be deployed in more than 100 markets around the world where the business operates.

Haleon will be entering the markets with a portfolio of brands such as Sensodyne, Voltaren, Panadol and Centrum.

The creation of Haleon results from a series of successful investments and strategic changes to GSK’s consumer health business over the last 8 years, including integrations of the consumer product portfolios from Novartis and Pfizer. It is now a valuable and focused global business generating annual sales of approximately £10 billion.

Brian McNamara, Chief Executive Officer- Designate, Haleon, said, “Introducing Haleon to the world marks another step in our journey to become a new, standalone company. Our name is grounded in our purpose to deliver better everyday health with humanity and to be a world-leader in consumer healthcare. We are on track to launch Haleon in mid-2022 and our business momentum is strong. We look forward to updating investors and analysts more on this at our capital markets event at the end of February.”

Emma Walmsley, Chief Executive Officer, GSK, said, “Haleon brings to life years of hard work by many outstanding people to build this new company purely dedicated to everyday health. Haleon has enormous potential to improve health and wellbeing across the world with strong prospects for growth, and through listing will unlock significant value for GSK shareholders.”

The name was also announced ahead of GSK hosting a Consumer Healthcare Capital Markets Day for investors and analysts on Monday, 28 February, to provide details on the overall strategy, capabilities and operations of Haleon, including detailed financial information and growth ambitions of the business. For prospective investors, Haleon will offer attractive organic sales growth, operating margin expansion and consistent high cash generation.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com