Aspen buys GSK brands

FMCG SUPPLIER NEWS

Fin24 - Apr 23rd 2012, 14:01

London - GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to sell a clutch of international over-the-counter healthcare brands for £164m to South Africa’s Aspen Pharmacare Holdings [JSE:APN], Britain’s biggest drugmaker said on Friday. 

Cash proceeds from the transaction are expected to be about £135m and will be returned to shareholders during 2012.

The sale is the latest move by GSK to fine-tune its consumer healthcare business and follows the divestment of other over-the-counter brands in North America and Europe.
The brands being sold generated sales of around £60m in 2011. They include the painkiller Solpadeine and anti-stomach acid drug Zantac.

The net profit realised on the disposal in 2012 - after deducting transaction costs and a profit deferral of some £25m pre-tax because Aspen is a GSK associate - is expected to be £105m before tax, or £90m after tax.

GSK added it continued to plan to sell its OTC weight-loss pill Alli. This process has been delayed due to supply problems at a Roche factory in the United States.

The Swiss company manufactures the active ingredient, orlistat, which is also the active substance in Roche’s prescription-only drug Xenical. Alli is a low-dose version of Xenical.

GSK first announced in February 2011 that it planned to dispose of non-core brands sold primarily in North America and Europe and representing about 10% of its consumer health portfolio, in order to focus on priority brands and emerging markets.