The consumer goods arm of pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline hit the stock market today in London’s biggest listing in a decade.
Haleon, which owns brands such as Sensodyne toothpaste and Panadol painkillers, is spinning out of GSK to become a standalone business.
Its shares started trading at 330, giving it a market cap of £30.5billion and making it the largest float on the London Stock Exchange for ten years.
But they were trading down by nearly 3 per cent on Monday afternoon.
Haleon’s is the largest float on the London stock market for 10 years
However, price action may take a few days to settle and with traders will be watching closely for how its shares fare in the coming days, as investors try to navigate the current economic turmoil with caution.
GSK is shifting £10billion of debt onto Haleon, which could cause concern among some investors.
The opening day price gives Halon’s a much lower value than Unilever’s £50billion bid earlier this year.
GSK shares tumbled 19 per cent to £13.84, reflecting the reduction in value after the spin-off.
Chris Beckett, head of equity research at Quilter Cheviot, said: ‘Haleon’s opening day trading is certainly at the lower end of where expectations were coalescing, however, this is not necessarily a bad thing.
‘The fact it is a little lower than expected means there is scope for investors to build a meaningful position and potentially capture some upside.
‘Fundamentally, this is an attractive industry and business to have exposure to given its defensive characteristics at a time where volatility is upsetting markets.’
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