In July 2022, millions of UK investors opened their post to find a share certificate for a company they had never heard of: Haleon plc.

Many people threw this away, thinking it was marketing junk. It wasn’t. Haleon is the new name for the consumer healthcare business (Sensodyne, Panadol, Centrum) that was spun out of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

The “Free” Shares If you owned GSK shares on 15 July 2022, you were automatically given 1 Haleon share for every 1 GSK share you held.

• Example: If you had 500 GSK shares, you now also own 500 Haleon shares.

The “Missing” GSK Shares (Consolidation) At the same time, GSK carried out a Share Consolidation. They reduced the number of GSK shares you hold to account for the value leaving the business.

• The Ratio: You received 4 new GSK shares for every 5 old ones.
• The Panic: Many investors log in, see their GSK share count has dropped by 20%, and panic. This is normal. The value was moved into your new Haleon shares.

Who Manages Them? Both registers are managed by Equiniti.

• If you threw away your Haleon certificate, you must contact Equiniti to get a replacement (Indemnity fees may apply).
• Divica Pro allows you to check your status for both companies simultaneously to ensure you aren’t missing dividends from either side of the split.