GSK sells nutritional drinks brands to Japanese firm

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GSK sells nutritional drinks brands to Japanese firm

(Xinhua) 20:19, September 09, 2013

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GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a world leading pharmaceutical and healthcare company, announced on Monday that it has reached an agreement with Japanese Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd (SBF) on the sales of its nutritional drinks brands Lucozade and Ribena for 1.35 billion pounds (about 2.12 billion U.S. dollars) in cash.

GSK said in a statement that the transaction would be completed by the end of the year, and the deal was subject to regulatory approvals.

According to GSK, the proceeds from the transaction will be used to reduce debt and for general corporate purposes

"Lucozade and Ribena are iconic brands that have made a huge contribution to GSK over the years," said David Redfern, Chief Strategy Officer of GSK, "Now is the right time to sell them as we increase the focus of our Consumer Healthcare business and execute the delivery of our late stage pipeline of pharmaceuticals and vaccines."

SBF, a leading global soft drink company headquartered in Japan, will acquire global rights to the brands and GSK's Coleford manufacturing site, which is located in the Forest of Dean in Britain.

"The vast majority of employees at the site and those working on Lucozade and Ribena in commercial and R&D functions will transfer to SBF under the provisions of English employment law," said GSK.

In Nigeria, GSK will continue to manufacture and distribute Lucozade and Ribena under the license from SBF.

Annual sales of the two brands were approximately 500 million pounds in 2012, according to GSK.

（Editor：WangXin、Hongyu）