18 July 2022 - 11:38A sign outside the headquarters of GlaxoSmithKline in London, England. Picture: BLOOMBERG/CHRIS RATCLIFFEIn a long scripted overhaul of its business, British drugmaker GSK spun off its consumer health business on Monday in the biggest listing in Europe for more than a decade.
There were high hopes for Haleon’s market valuation after GSK in January said it had rebuffed a £50bn offer from Unilever on the basis it was too low. It was also met with a degree of scepticism among some investors given the 3% to 5% average across the industry, according to Barclays.GSK has underperformed relative to its peers in recent years, triggered by a falling share of R&D spend, some clinical failures, and missing out on the lucrative market for the first set of Covid-19 vaccines.