(Reuters) – British consumer healthcare group Haleon on Tuesday said it gained full control of its Chinese joint venture after acquiring Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang’s 12% stake for about 1.62 billion yuan ($221.4 million).
The joint venture, Tianjin TSKF Pharmaceutical Co (TSKF), was founded in 1984 and manufactures and distributes over-the-counter products under Haleon’s brands in China, such as burn ointment Fenbid and topical antibiotic Bactroban.
The deal comes at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated plans for a “major” tariff on pharmaceutical imports, threatening an interwoven global supply chain.
Trump also raised tariffs on Chinese goods to 145%, drawing retaliatory tariffs of 125% from Beijing, ramping up trade tensions between the countries, two of Haleon’s biggest markets.
The “Sensodyne” toothpaste maker’s CEO, Brian McNamara, told Reuters in February that any potential impact on the group from tariffs was expected to be “relatively low”, and that it was monitoring the situation and working on possible mitigations.
Haleon had bought 33% of TSKF last year, and said it had an option to purchase the rest of the venture from the Chinese healthcare company.
($1 = 7.3161 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)
