Unilever to weigh raising offer for GSK’s consumer assets – Bloomberg

(Reuters) – Unilever Plc has held talks with banks about additional financing for a potential sweetened offer for GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s consumer products division, Bloomberg reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Unilever and GSK did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

The news came a day after GSK said it had rejected a 50-billion-pound ($68.37 billion) offer from Unilever for the consumer goods arm. GSK said it had received three bids from Unilever, the latest on Dec. 20.

Unilever could eventually sell some non-core assets from the GSK portfolio to buyers including private equity firms, which could help fund an acquisition, the Bloomberg report added.

($1 = 0.7314 pounds)

(Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)