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Haleon plc failed to impress following its much-anticipated admission to trading on the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market on 18 July 2022 with a market valuation of £30.5bn. Haleon was established as the consumer healthcare joint venture of pharmaceutical giants GlaxoSmithKline plc and Pfizer Inc, though its demerger from GlaxoSmithKline was prior to its flotation. Following the company’s IPO, Haleon is now the largest standalone consumer health business in the world.

Nonetheless, Haleon’s opening market value was towards the lower end of the range anticipated despite the company having reached the FTSE 100. Haleon had been expected to achieve a valuation of up to £35bn. Its shares began trading at 330p but by Tuesday morning had dipped to 292p, sending its market capitalisation below £27bn, before recovering to 306p on Wednesday. GlaxoSmithKline rebuffed a £50bn takeover bid by Unilever for Haleon in December 2021, with the deal including £10bn worth of debt, claiming it ‘fundamentally undervalued’ the business. However, with Haleon’s shares off to a shaky start, it is entirely possible another takeover approach could occur in the coming months.

Haleon is London’s biggest listing since ’s £36.7bn IPO in 2011 and comes amidst continued market pressures resulting in a marked decline in IPO activity so far this year. Equity capital markets throughout Europe have been affected by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and concerns around rising inflation have undeniably seen investors remain reluctant to pursue potential opportunities. However, Haleon remained undeterred by the conflict and stated in its that the Russian and Ukrainian markets account for less than three percent of its revenue. An in-depth analysis of London equity capital markets in H1 2022 can be viewed in our upcoming Market Tracker trend report.

For more on Haleon, see .

Market Tracker will continue to monitor Haleon’s shares.