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The Morning Ledger: Pfizer, Glaxo Agree to Create Over-the-Counter Giant |
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Pfizer, which sells drugstore staples like Advil, plans to combine its consumer-health unit with GlaxoSmithKline’s. PHOTO: CARLO ALLEGRI/REUTERS
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Good day. Pfizer Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline PLC plan to combine their consumer health-care units and eventually spin off the joint venture, creating the world's largest seller of drugstore staples like Advil and Sensodyne toothpaste, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Shifting focus: The deal, announced Wednesday, is an unexpected conclusion to a yearlong process by Pfizer to shed its consumer business, as it and other pharmaceutical companies focus more on higher-margin prescription drugs. Glaxo has been pursuing the same focus, though has until now stayed committed to its consumer business, which its chief executive led before her promotion to the top job.
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Strategic shift: The planned move will represent a breakup of Glaxo, which currently generates around a quarter of its revenue from such consumer products. Glaxo will hold a 68% stake and Pfizer the remaining 32% in the new joint venture.
Let's try again: For Pfizer, the deal represents a late swan song for departing Chief Executive Ian Read, who earlier this year failed to sell the consumer health-care business in an auction. Glaxo had been one of the bidders in that process but walked away because it didn’t want to acquire the business outright, according to Chief Executive Emma Walmsley.
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The U.S. Federal Reserve releases its statement and projections from its December meeting, setting the tone for interest rates next year.
General Mills Inc., Winnebago Industries Inc., Paychex Inc. and Rite Aid Corp. are among the companies scheduled to report earnings today.
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Regulators Propose Overhaul of U.K. Audit Industry |
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The Ernst & Young offices in London. PHOTO: JACK TAYLOR/GETTY IMAGES
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U.K. regulators proposed sweeping changes to rules governing British audit firms Tuesday in moves designed to increase competition, prevent conflicts of interest and restore public confidence in an industry tarnished by an accounting scandal that led to the collapse of one of Britain’s largest construction companies, report Michael Rapoport and CFO Journal’s Nina Trentmann.
The measures, if implemented, would see audit firms separate their auditing and consulting operations, introduce two-firm audits for large companies and replace the current auditing regulator. The changes were in part triggered by the scandal that brought down Carillion PLC.
In the wake of the construction company’s collapse, U.K. affiliates of the Big Four audit firms—KPMG LLP, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Ernst & Young LLP and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd.—have faced criticism that their auditing hasn’t been tough enough and they have been too cozy with their clients.
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Investors worried about a price war and the SoftBank units reliance on Chinese supplier Huawei Technologies. PHOTO: KAZUHIRO NOGI/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
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SoftBank Group Corp.’s Japanese mobile-phone unit made one of the country’s worst debuts after its nearly $24 billion initial public offering as investors worried about a price war and the company’s reliance on Chinese supplier Huawei Technologies Co.
A legal dispute over the handling of insurance contracts on Sears Holdings Corp.’s debt is putting the effectiveness of such instruments in doubt and raising questions about fairness in the bankruptcy process.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said Wednesday that Japan’s Taisho Pharmaceutical Holdings Co. has offered to buy its French consumer-health unit for $1.6 billion, Reuters reports.
Former Walt Disney Co. Chief Operating Officer Tom Staggs has emerged as a top candidate to become CBS Corp.’s new chief executive, as the network tries to move past months of upheaval since the departure of Leslie Moonves over allegations of sexual harassment.
Earlier this year, FedEx Corp. was giving out raises and bonuses to its hourly workers. Now it’s looking to eliminate thousands of U.S. jobs.
Elon Musk’s rocket company, Space Exploration Technologies Corp., is set to raise $500 million at a $30.5 billion valuation, in a bid to help get its internet-service business off the ground.
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Despite a late November injunction, Apple continued to sell older iPhones in China, saying it was in compliance without elaborating further. PHOTO: REUTERS
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Apple Inc. sought this week to avoid a ban on the sale of older iPhones in China by releasing a software update that lawyers said could enable the company to keep selling those products in the world’s largest smartphone market.
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MetLife Inc. will pay a $1 million fine to Massachusetts in its first regulatory settlement after the insurer failed to pay 13,500 people their pension benefits.
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Companies will have to disclose whether executives and directors can hedge against declines in their companies’ stock, following a vote by U.S. securities regulators on Tuesday.
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U.S. banks received a reprieve on Tuesday from a new accounting rule that requires them to book losses on soured loans more quickly.
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Charter Communications Inc. will pay more than $174 million as part of a settlement following a probe by the New York state attorney general into the quality of service provided to customers.
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A federal judge on Tuesday softened his previous suggestion that he would likely issue a court order requiring CVS Health Corp. to halt its integration of newly acquired insurer Aetna Inc.
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Volkswagen AG supplier IAV GmbH has agreed to plead guilty and pay a $35 million fine for its role in the German auto maker's emissions-cheating scheme, the U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday.
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A Publix grocery store in Tampa, Fla. PHOTO: OCTAVIO JONES/ZUMA PRESS
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Food makers are devising more-expensive sizes and flavors of their treats and breakfast foods, a subtle strategy to cover rising costs as tough competition holds down prices elsewhere in the supermarket.
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Saudi Arabia said it would increase spending next year to boost economic growth despite a drop in oil prices, as it seeks to rally domestic support amid international criticism for the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
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Italy’s finance ministry said it has agreed on a compromise with European Union authorities over the country’s budget deficit, resolving a dispute between that has vexed financial markets for months.
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Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, a U.K. lender, appointed Katie Murray as chief financial officer and executive director, effective Jan. 1, 2019. RBS named Ms. Murray as interim CFO in September after Ewen Stevenson stepped down.
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Ms. Murray, who first joined RBS as a finance director in November 2015, will also be appointed as executive director and CFO of NatWest Holdings Ltd., The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC, National Westminster Bank PLC and Ulster Bank Ltd.
Ms. Murray will receive an annual base salary of £750,000 ($949,241) and a fixed share allowance of £750,000. She is eligible for performance-based payments with a maximum award of 200% of salary. Ms. Murray will be required to build up and maintain a minimum shareholding of 250% of salary, RBS said in a filing.
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