SMITHKLINE BEECHAM TO PUT MOST OF $1 BIL. RETURN ON SALE OF STERLING's
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
SMITHKLINE BEECHAM TO PUT MOST OF $1 BIL. RETURN ON SALE OF STERLING's North American OTC business to Bayer AG toward the reduction of debt incurred with the $2.93 bil. purchase of the Sterling Winthrop worldwide OTC business in August and the $2.3 bil. acquisition of Diversified Pharmaceutical Services in May. SmithKline's assumption of more than $5 bil. in debt during 1994 following the Sterling Winthrop acquisition from Kodak moved SB onto Standard & Poor's CreditWatch negative list for possible downgrading of its "AA-" long-term credit rating ("The Tan Sheet" Sept. 5, p. 7).