GSK pulls out of race for Centrum-maker

GLAXOSMITHKLINE has withdrawn from a $20bn (£14bn) contest to buy Pfizer’s consumer healthcare division, a day after fellow FTSE 100 firm Reckitt Benckiser also dropped out of the bidding.

The move puts Pfizer’s sale plans for its unit in jeopardy, with no other major company linked with a bid after Johnson & Johnson and Nestlé also pulled out at an earlier stage.

Pfizer’s consumer health division makes products including Chapstick lip balm, Centrum vitamins and Seven Seas supplements.

The US giant said it would “continue to evaluate” options for the division, including a spin-off, sale or other transaction, or ultimately keeping it. It expects to make a decision by the end of this year.

Emma Walmsley, the GSK chief executive, said her firm would continue to review takeover opportunities, but that they “must meet our criteria for returns” and not jeopardise its commitment to paying a dividend.

Investors welcomed the news, sending the company’s shares up by 3.3pc. Pfizer shares fell 3.1pc in New York. Reckitt, which makes healthcare and cleaning products including Clearasil and Air Wick, said on Thursday it had withdrawn from the contest as it did not want to acquire the whole division and had failed to persuade Pfizer to sell just part of it.

The company was reportedly most interested in buying the Advil pain relief brand.

Separately, GSK announced it had won two further regulatory approvals for its potential blockbuster vaccine for shingles, called Shingrix, in Europe and Japan. The vaccine had previously been approved in the US and Canada.

It inoculates adults against varicella zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox. Ms Walmsley has identified the vaccine as one of three priority products to help lift sales.

$20bn The amount that Pfizer’s consumer healthcare division, which makes Centrum and Chapstick, has been valued at