GSK Spins Off $36 Billion Consumer-Healthcare Business Haleon

GSK PLC completed the spinoff of its consumer-healthcare business, a bet that greater focus on innovative drugs and vaccines will help accelerate growth at the pharmaceuticals giant.

The new stand-alone company, called Haleon PLC, fetched a market value of about £30.5 billion, equivalent to $36.4 billion, at its stock-market debut Monday. The listing is one of the largest in London for years and the biggest corporate change for GSK—until recently called GlaxoSmithKline–since it was formed through a megamerger in 2000.