Bulletin: Equity Component Of Unilever's €3.3 Billion Bid For GSK Health Food Drinks Portfolio Mitigates Leverage Impact

MILAN (S&P Global Ratings) Dec. 3, 2018--S&P Global Ratings said today that its ratings and outlook on Unilever PLC and Unilever N.V. (both rated A+/Stable/A-1) are not immediately affected by the group's announcement that it had signed an agreement to acquire GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK's) Health Food Drinks portfolio (GSK HFD) in India, Bangladesh, and 20 other predominantly Asian markets. We believe the deal's financial structure enables Unilever to preserve its rating headroom, because the amount of additional debt for the acquisition appears limited. Meanwhile, the group will strengthen its market position in foods and health nutrition in India, a longstanding strategic market for Unilever, as well as bolstering its position in other Asian markets. The announced transaction consists of three elements:

...MILAN (S&P Global Ratings) Dec. 3, 2018--S&P Global Ratings said today that its ratings and outlook on Unilever PLC and Unilever N.V. (both rated A+/Stable/A-1) are not immediately affected by the group's announcement that it had signed an agreement to acquire GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK's) Health Food Drinks portfolio (GSK HFD) in India, Bangladesh, and 20 other predominantly Asian markets. We believe the deal's financial structure enables Unilever to preserve its rating headroom, because the amount of additional debt for the acquisition appears limited. Meanwhile, the group will strengthen its market position in foods and health nutrition in India, a longstanding strategic market for Unilever, as well as bolstering its position in other Asian markets. The announced transaction consists of three elements: + An all-equity merger of Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) with the publicly listed GSK Consumer Healthcare India (GSK CH India), on the basis of an exchange ratio of 4.39 HUL shares for each...

Bulletin