GSK’s £40 Billion Consumer Arm Picks Citi, UBS as Brokers

Dinesh Nair and Ruth David, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- GSK Plc’s consumer health arm has picked corporate brokers ahead of its planned spinoff on the London Stock Exchange, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Haleon Plc has chosen Citigroup Inc. and UBS Group AG as its brokers, who will be go-to advisers on everything from strategy to shareholder engagement, the people said. The banks were selected following a beauty parade several weeks ago, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

The planned listing could value Haleon at around £40 billion ($49 billion), according to the people. Citigroup, which is already a corporate broker to GSK, is expected to maintain its role with the British pharmaceutical giant, the people said.

Haleon owns a sprawling portfolio of brands from Advil painkillers to Sensodyne toothpaste and is poised to immediately become one of the UK market’s biggest companies. While corporate broker roles offer only nominal fees, they’re hotly contested as they can lead to much more lucrative work on capital market transactions and acquisitions.

Spokespeople for GSK and Citigroup declined to comment, while a representative for UBS didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Haleon is expected to start trading on July 18, according to a filing this month. Unilever Plc had earlier pursued a £50 billion acquisition of the business, eventually abandoning its pursuit following opposition from its own shareholders and a rejection from GSK.