Unilever will not raise rejected 50 bln pound bid for GSK consumer arm

GSK has rejected three bids from Unilever for its consumer arm, which is home to brands such as Sensodyne toothpaste, Emergen-C vitamin supplement and Panadol painkiller, saying the bids "fundamentally undervalued" the business and its prospects. It has said it would stick to its plan to separately list the business in mid-2022 and issued improved financial assumptions for the unit.

Unilever PLC on Wednesday effectively abandoned its plans to buy GlaxoSmithKline's consumer healthcare business, saying that it would not raise its 50 billion pound ($68 billion) offer that GSK previously rejected.

U.S.-listed shares of Unilever rose 10.1% on the news, while GSK's fell 2.8%. The two stocks also trade on the FTSE, where the day's trading had closed.