GSK Regional Head for Asia, Middle East & Africa, Mr. Zubair Ahmed explains why they divested from their drinks and bottling business.
“It is not a question of economic decision that the business was not making money. It did not fit into our global portfolio. Nigeria was the only exception in the beverage market. Our focus globally is that GSK globally compete in five categories, which is pains, respiratory, skin, oral healthcare, and digestive. These are the five categories that we compete globally. Nigeria was a bit of an aberration. What we have done has brought the portfolio synergized. We will not be getting into functional beverages. We stick to these categories for now……..As you look at what we call the construct of what we called the GSK Company. What has changed is that we have a joint venture with Novatis, and the entire positioning of the new company is one of the world’s biggest over-the-counter (OTC ) and healthcare companies. So in keeping with that focus globally, for Nigeria, for strategic reason to bring that focus on the global portfolio, we took that decision of divestiture, ”
