GSK Pharma started its voluntary open offer today. CNBC-TV18's Archana Shukla spoke to Rogerio Ribeiro, senior vice president, Emerging Markets & Asia-Pacific, GSK and asked him about his expectations from the open offer.
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Below is edited transcript of the interview
Q: Are there any expectations from the open offer?A: We believe we have put together a fair proposal. I have no specific expectations but it is a fair and good proposal for shareholders who would be interested in selling their stake.
Q: What are your plans, are you looking at talking to specific institutional investors alongside or are you opening this only for public shareholders?
A: It is a general offer to all shareholders. What we are trying to accomplish here, actually shows our commitment to India, it is a huge investment. India is one of the most strategic countries within the emerging markets, Asia Pacific and we will continue to build this footprint in Indian markets. So, that offer actually reinforces our commitment. It is also consistent with what we have done with the consumer healthcare company recently and so, it is in line with the overall strategy for India.
Q: A lot of your stake is held by institutional investors like Aberdeen and LIC in India. When you had just announced the open offer we had asked you question on has there been any specific discussion or have the institutional investors approached you. There has been a fair amount of gap now. Has there been any discussion with institutional investors? Have they approached you or you approached them for some bit of stake sale to them?
A: We have an independent board. I personally haven’t been in any discussions with any of the shareholders.
Q: That is not a model that GSK would possibly go through, will you just keep it open?
A: This is being discussed within the board of the local company. So, I haven’t been involved in that.
Q: How will this open offer help you expand your presence in India? GSK has been saying India is a lead growth market. It is one of the most important markets. How does it help you strengthen your position?
A: This is a very attractive market – not only issuing the open offer but we are also committed to increase our manufacturing footprint. We just announced an investment of a new manufacturing site and 85 million pounds investment. So, this is all aligned with GSKs commitment to stay in this country for many more years. We have been here for the past 85 years and might be here even for longer period.
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