Consumer goods giant Unilever on Wednesday said it would not increase a $68 billion offer for the consumer healthcare unit owned by pharmaceutical groups GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer.
British group GSK at the weekend said it had received three unsolicited offers from Unilever for GSK Consumer Healthcare -- all of which were rejected for being too low.
U.S. company Pfizer owns a minority stake in the unit.
"Unilever is committed to maintaining strict financial discipline to ensure that acquisitions create value for our shareholders," it said in a statement Wednesday, adding that it would not raise the offer above £50 billion ($68 billion).
Unilever on Monday said its "future strategic direction lies in materially expanding its presence in health, beauty and hygiene."
GSK Consumer Healthcare's leading products include Sensodyne toothpaste, pain relief drug Panadol and cold treatment Theraflu.
Unilever's major offerings include Magnum ice cream, Cif surface cleaner and Dove soap.
Its latest bid for the healthcare unit in December comprised £41.7 billion in cash and £8.3 billion in Unilever shares.
The offers came as GSK was looking to spin off the consumer health division to concentrate on its main pharmaceutical arm.
Copyright 2022, Agence France-Presse
