Unilever's outgoing CEO Paul Polman topped Nestle by $1 bn in Horlicks bid

Under Polman, Unilever thwarted a takeover bid from US rival Kraft Heinz in 2017 and sold its spreads business to private equity firm KKR for $8.1 bn later in the year

Unilever’s departing Chief Executive Officer Paul Polman (pictured), in a major push into India that may be his last deal, agreed to pay about $1 billion more than his closest rival for GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK’s) consumer business in the country, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Anglo-Dutch conglomerate agreed to pay 3.3 billion euros ($3.8 billion) in cash and stock from its Indian subsidiary to take control of the consumer business, including malted milk drink Horlicks. Nestle SA’s offer was lower, but was all cash, the people said, asking not to be identified because the details aren’t public. One of Polman’s last acts as CEO will be attending a capital markets day in India with the rest of his executive team this week.

Graeme Pitkethly, the Anglo-Dutch company’s chief financial officer, said comparisons were difficult because of the way the offers were structured. “I hate to speculate, but I very much doubt” that Unilever outbid Nestle by $1 billion, he said on Tuesday at the investor day in Mumbai. Representatives for Glaxo and Nestle declined to comment. Monday’s deal may help ensure Polman’s final move as CEO isn’t dealing with fallout from a disastrous decision to move Unilever’s headquarters out of the UK in favor of a single base in the Netherlands — a change he’d hoped would enable more deals. He was forced to abandon the plan in October after shareholders rebelled.

Under Polman, Unilever thwarted a takeover bid from US rival Kraft Heinz in 2017 and sold its spreads business to private equity firm KKR for $8.1 billion later in the year. The India deal is the company’s third-largest purchase since he took over in 2009, data compiled by Bloomberg show.