GSK activist secures meeting

AN ACTIVIST investor pushing for a shakeup at GlaxoSmithKline has secured a meeting with the drugs giant’s chairman – and the backing of corporate raider Elliott, writes Alex Lawson.

Sources said Bluebell Capital Partners is due to meet Sir Jonathan Symonds within weeks. Bluebell wants GSK chief executive Emma Walmsley to reapply for her job ahead of the separation of the group’s biopharma and consumer businesses next year. It also wants a ‘proactive’ approach to considering a sale rather than a demerger of the consumer arm. Its demands echo those of Elliott Management, which took a multi-billion pound stake this year. Bluebell’s stake in GSK is €10 million.

Marco Taricco, Bluebell’s chief investment officer, said: ‘Our message is consistent with Elliott’s but we are not working in concert.’