New Delhi: The Competition Commission (CCI) said it has approved the formation of a joint venture for consumer healthcare products by pharmaceutical giants GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Pfizer.
GSK, in December 2018, had said it has reached an agreement with Pfizer to combine their consumer health businesses into a new joint venture (JV) with combined sales of around USD 12.7 billion (around Rs 88,900 crore). In a tweet, the CCI said it “approves formation of a JV for consumer healthcare products by GSK and Pfizer.”
The proposed combination involves acquisition of Pfizer’s consumer healthcare business by GSK, and the combination of GSK and Pfizer consumer healthcare business into a global consumer healthcare joint venture under the sole control of GSK, as per a notice submitted to CCI. After the deal, GSK will have a majority controlling equity interest of 68 pc in the combined consumer healthcare business, while Pfizer will have a minority non-controlling equity interest of the remaining 32 pc.
In consumer healthcare segment, GSK is active in research, development, manufacturing, and marketing of products which are typically available without prescription (over-the-counter) for various indications. On the other hand, Pfizer’s consumer healthcare segment develops, manufactures and markets non-prescription medicines, vitamins, and nutritional products.
