Glaxo Wellcome, SmithKline Beecham agree to merge
17 January 2000
British
drug giants Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham today announced their agreement to form
the world's biggest pharmaceutical group with market capitalisation exceeding $180
billion. SmithKline Beecham's Jean-Pierre Garnier will be the chief executive of the
emerging entity, called Glaxo SmithKline, and Glaxo's Sir Richard Sykes will hold the
position of non-executive chairman. Also see .
Glaxo SmithKline will have annual sales of nearly $28 billion, and a market share of 7.5 per cent. Though the group will have headquarters in London, operations will be largely conducted from a US base, either SmithKline's headquarters in Philadelphia or a new location in New Jersey.
The merger is expected to result in annual cost savings of $1.8 billion, to be realised in three years. The group has a global workforce of 105,000, and it is likely that around 10,000 jobs may be lost after the merger, which will take about six months to complete.
The all-stock merger deal will be reportedly realised through an offer of Glaxo shares or SmithKline Beecham shares, which will result in an approximate 58.75 : 41.25 split in Glaxo's favour. This is a marginally better deal for SmithKline compared to the 1998 offer of Glaxo, when the merger talks had failed. To find out what made the merger successful this time, .
The two companies have also decided to put SmithKline's nutirional business on the block. The nutritional business is estimated around $3.3 billion and includes popular brands such as Ribena, Horlicks, and Lucozade. However, Glaxo SmithKline will retain SmithKline's consumer health division, which has popular brands such as Nicorette (an aid to stop smoking). This is supposed to complement Zyban, Glaxo's prescription drug in the same category.
The new company will hold a dominant position in at least five therapeutic categories. These are respiratory conditions (asthma), anti-virals (HIV, and hepatitis), diseases of the nervous system (depression, and migraine), antibiotics, and vaccines. It is also likely to emerge as a major player in diabetes- and bowel-related problems.
