By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – GlaxoSmithKline ADRs (NYSE:GSK) traded 1.3% lower in Monday's premarket as fears over the fast-spreading Omicron virus overshadowed the appointment of Dave Lewis to head its new consumer healthcare company.
Lewis, who will become non-executive chairman, left Tesco (OTC:TSCDY) last year after more than a six-year reign that oversaw a cleanup after a major accounting scandal rocked the retailer soon after he joined it in 2014.
He joined Tesco from Unilever (NYSE:UL), where he earned the nickname ‘Drastic Dave’ for fixing businesses through cost cutting and innovative marketing, according to Reuters.
Lewis has also served on the board of Sky and is currently a director of PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP). For more than two months, he has also been advising the U.K. government on fixing supply chain issues that have hit the British economy and sent prices of energy and other essentials soaring.
The separation of consumer healthcare will be by way of a demerger in mid-2022, in which at least 80% of GSK’s holding will be spun off to shareholders. The new resulting company is expected to attain a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange.
According to a Bloomberg report in October, private equity groups eyeing the split reckon the new unit could be worth up to $54 billion.
Brian McNamara appointed CEO-designate of the new consumer healthcare company in July.
GSK stock's decline was a fraction smaller than that of the overall U.K. market on Monday, which was reeling under the threat of fresh restrictions on mobility to bring down a soaring Covid-19 infection rate.
The U.K. is now reporting more than 90,000 Covid cases daily, mostly owing to the new and more transmissible Omicron variant. So far, hospital admission rates - which have been the key driver of government policy - have not risen in parallel, but with cases now at a record high, Health Secretary Sajid Javid hasn’t ruled out stricter lockdown measures even before the holiday season.