GSK break-up urged by star fund manager Neil Woodford
The influential fund manager Neil Woodford called for GlaxoSmithKline (LON:GSK) to be broken up in an interview broadcast on Radio 5, the BBC website reported. Woodford said the GBP 65bn (USD 94bn) UK-based pharmaceuticals group is too complicated and likened it to four FTSE 100-listed businesses joined together.
GSK is not an effective manager of its constituent elements and should concentrate on improving those parts which it can manage better, demerging the others to more experienced people, Woodford said. He added that the business’s current stock price does not reflect the true value of the sum of the company’s parts.
Woodford rarely gives press interviews and when he does his opinions are very influential, the report said. A market report in The Daily Mail noted that following his comments GSK’s shares rose 2%, pushing the stock price to 1371.5p and adding GBP 1.3bn to the company’s value.
BBC, Daily Mail