Glaxo makes open offer to hike stake in Indian arm

GlaxoSmithKline Plc, the UK-based health products company, has announced a voluntary open offer to increase stake in its publicly listed Indian arm GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare from 43.2 per cent to up to 75 per cent.

The company is offering Rs3,900 per share. This represents a premium of approximately 28 per cent to the company's closing share price on the National Stock Exchange on 23 November, according to a company release.

Under the offer, which is in accordance with the rules GlaxoSmithKline  will acquire up to 13,389,410 shares, representing 31.8 per cent of the total outstanding shares of the Indian company.

Securities regulations in India require a minimum public shareholding of 25 per cent for a company to maintain a public listing in the country.

The potential total value of the transaction at the offer price is approximately Rs5,220 crore or £591 million, the release said.

GSK Consumer Healthcare Ltd is well established in India and its leading product, Horlicks, is an old household brand.