How to Convert Old Burroughs Wellcome and GSK Pharma Share Certificates to Demat and Recover Them from IEPF

To convert an old Burroughs Wellcome (India) share certificate to demat, first work out how many GSK Pharma shares it stands for today. Then update your details with GSK Pharma’s registrar, open a demat account in exactly the name on the shares, and submit them for demat. If the shares have already moved to the IEPF, you claim them back with Form IEPF-5.

Burroughs Wellcome (India) merged into GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals, known as GSK Pharma, in 2004. Every 10 Burroughs Wellcome shares became 14 GSK Pharma shares, and in 2018 each of those became 2. So 100 Burroughs Wellcome shares are 280 GSK Pharma shares today, worth about ₹7.21 lakh at the 3 November 2026 closing price.

Holding old Burroughs Wellcome paper and not sure what it is worth? Check with Find Your Shares, free.

What happened to Burroughs Wellcome (India) shares?

They became GSK Pharma shares in October 2004. Burroughs Wellcome (India) was the Indian arm of Britain’s Wellcome group. In 1995 Glaxo bought Wellcome, and in 2000 Glaxo Wellcome joined SmithKline Beecham to form GlaxoSmithKline. The Indian company stayed listed on its own until 2004, when it merged into its sister company in India, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

Both boards approved the merger on 17 March 2004. Shareholders of both companies voted for it in June 2004, and the Bombay High Court then approved it. GSK Pharma fixed Monday, 11 October 2004 as the record date. Every shareholder on Burroughs Wellcome’s register that day received GSK Pharma shares at this ratio:

The ratio and the record date come from the two companies’ own filings to the stock exchanges in 2004.

How many GSK Pharma shares do your Burroughs Wellcome shares stand for today?

Multiply the number of Burroughs Wellcome shares by 1.4, then by 2. The second step is the 2018 bonus: GSK Pharma gave one bonus share for every share held, with a record date of 13 September 2018. GSK Pharma has never split its shares, so nothing else changes the count.

That is about ₹7,210 today for every Burroughs Wellcome share held in 2004, before any dividends.

Is your old Burroughs Wellcome certificate still valid?

No, not as a share certificate. When the merger took effect, Burroughs Wellcome (India) ceased to exist and its shares were cancelled. GSK Pharma shares were issued in their place to everyone on the register on 11 October 2004.

Keep the old certificate anyway. With its folio number, it is the best proof that you were on Burroughs Wellcome’s register in 2004, and the quickest way for the registrar to find your GSK Pharma folio. For the general rule on old paper, see are old share certificates still valid.

Where are your GSK Pharma shares now?

They were issued in your name in 2004. Where they are now depends on what happened next.

• You have a GSK Pharma certificate. You hold the shares on paper. They can be converted to demat.
• Nothing ever arrived. If you had moved house, the new certificate may have gone to an old address. The shares stay in your name with the registrar until they are claimed, or until they go to the IEPF.
• No dividend was claimed for years. The shares may already be with the IEPF. See the next section.

Dividends may also be waiting. For the year to March 2026, GSK Pharma’s board recommended a final dividend of ₹57 a share; the year before, the total was ₹54. On 100 old Burroughs Wellcome shares, that one dividend is ₹15,960. On paper folios, dividends are paid only electronically, once the folio’s details are complete.

Have your GSK Pharma shares gone to the IEPF?

They may have, if no dividend on them was claimed for seven years in a row. Like every listed company, GSK Pharma must then transfer the shares to the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF), a government fund. This is Section 124(6) of the Companies Act, 2013.

Families who have not heard from the company since the 2004 merger are the most likely to be affected, because every unclaimed dividend since then counts towards the seven years.

To check, look for your folio number in the unpaid-dividend and IEPF lists on GSK Pharma’s investor pages. You can also search the IEPF Authority’s records, but that search works by the holder’s name, not the folio number, and you must first register with your own PAN. Our guide on how to find lost shares and check the IEPF shows both.

The shares are not lost. You get an entitlement letter from GSK Pharma, then file Form IEPF-5. Our IEPF claim service can file the claim for you.

How do you convert the shares to demat?

Start with GSK Pharma’s registrar, KFin Technologies, not with a demat request. KFin keeps GSK Pharma’s share records; it is the firm many families still know as Karvy (see Karvy is now KFin Technologies). The demat request is the last step. If the registrar finds a problem, the request comes back rejected and you start again.

1. Write to the registrar with your name, the old Burroughs Wellcome folio number and a copy of the certificate. Ask for your GSK Pharma folio and share count, including the 2018 bonus shares.
2. Update the folio’s details on Form ISR-1: PAN, mobile number, bank account and signature. Since April 2024, dividends on paper folios are paid only after this is done.
3. Fix any name or signature mismatch at the same time. Signatures change over the years, so your bank may need to confirm yours on Form ISR-2.
4. Check that the shares have not moved to the IEPF. If they have, the route is an IEPF claim, not a demat request.
5. Open a demat account in exactly the name on the shares, if you do not have one.
6. If you hold a GSK Pharma certificate, submit it for demat through that account. If you never received one, ask the registrar to credit the shares straight to the account.

Shares on paper cannot be sold. They have to be in a demat account first.

Our guide to converting physical shares of any company to demat covers each step. Or let our physical shares to demat service do it for you.

Is GSK Pharma the same as GSK Consumer Healthcare?

No. GSK had two listed companies in India, and they went different ways. Burroughs Wellcome shares went to GSK Pharma, the medicines company, which is still listed under its own name.

Two more old names also lead to GSK Pharma. It was called Glaxo India until 8 October 2001, when SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals (India) merged into it: one GSK Pharma share for every two, with a record date of 9 November 2001. The count on those certificates works differently, so ask the registrar to confirm it.

GSK Consumer Healthcare, the Horlicks company, merged into Hindustan Unilever in 2020: 4.39 Hindustan Unilever shares of ₹1 for every GSK Consumer Healthcare share of ₹10, with a record date of 17 April 2020. If the family papers show that name instead, see our Hindustan Unilever old shares guide.

What if the shareholder has died, or the certificate is lost?

Both can still be fixed. The shares pass to the heirs, and lost certificates can be issued again.

• The holder has died. The heirs claim the shares by transmission. Since 22 August 2026, paper holdings worth up to ₹10 lakh per company need only a notarised indemnity bond and an affidavit-cum-NOC from all the heirs. Above that, a legal heir certificate is accepted. Work out today’s value first: 200 old Burroughs Wellcome shares are already above ₹10 lakh. See whether a legal heir certificate is enough.
• The certificate is lost. The registrar can issue the shares again, straight into your demat account. Up to ₹10 lakh, one affidavit-cum-indemnity bond is enough; above that, a police complaint and a newspaper notice are also needed. See how to get a duplicate share certificate.

Our transfer of shares after death and recovery of lost shares teams handle both.

Why not just ask a local agent to do it?

Because the hard part is working out what an old Burroughs Wellcome certificate stands for today: a company that no longer exists, a 14-for-10 swap, a bonus, more than twenty years of dividends and possibly an IEPF transfer. Anyone can file a form. We get you the shares.

• The true holding comes first. A local agent who files a demat request on an old Burroughs Wellcome certificate gets it rejected, because that certificate was cancelled in 2004. We trace the GSK Pharma folio first, with the right number of shares, the 2018 bonus, any dividends waiting and any shares already in the IEPF. Then a vetted local partner handles paperwork in your city, right the first time.
• Ask who is paid for what. An agent is paid for filing, whether or not the shares ever reach you. We are paid only when they do.
• The paperwork is only the start. The registrar, your folio details, the demat account and any IEPF claim all have to line up. We see the whole chain through, so nothing stops halfway.

Zero advance — you pay only once the shares are credited to your demat account.

Have an old Burroughs Wellcome or GSK Pharma certificate? Start with Find Your Shares →

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened to Burroughs Wellcome (India) shares?
Burroughs Wellcome (India) merged into GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (GSK Pharma) in 2004. Shareholders on the record date, 11 October 2004, received 14 GSK Pharma shares of ₹10 for every 10 Burroughs Wellcome shares of ₹10.

How many GSK Pharma shares is one old Burroughs Wellcome share today?
2.8 shares. Every 10 Burroughs Wellcome shares became 14 GSK Pharma shares in 2004, and each of those became 2 with the 2018 bonus. That is about ₹7,210 for every Burroughs Wellcome share held in 2004, at the 3 November 2026 closing price.

What are 100 Burroughs Wellcome shares worth today?
100 Burroughs Wellcome shares became 140 GSK Pharma shares in 2004 and are 280 shares today, worth about ₹7.21 lakh at the 3 November 2026 closing price, before any dividends.

Has GSK Pharma given a bonus or split its shares?
It gave one bonus share for every share held in 2018, with a record date of 13 September 2018. It has never split its shares, which are still of ₹10 each.

Is my old Burroughs Wellcome certificate still valid?
Not as a share certificate. The company ceased to exist when the merger took effect, and GSK Pharma shares were issued in place of its shares. The old certificate and folio number are the best proof for tracing them.

Who is GSK Pharma’s registrar?
KFin Technologies Limited, formerly known as Karvy. It keeps GSK Pharma’s share records, so it is the first place to ask about an old Burroughs Wellcome folio.

Did Burroughs Wellcome shares go to Hindustan Unilever?
No. That was GSK Consumer Healthcare, the Horlicks company, which merged into Hindustan Unilever in 2020. Burroughs Wellcome shares went to GSK Pharma in 2004.

My GSK Pharma shares may be in the IEPF. Can I get them back?
Yes. Get an entitlement letter from GSK Pharma, then file Form IEPF-5. The shares are credited back to your demat account once the claim is approved.

What does SharesRecover charge?
Zero advance — you pay only once the shares are credited to your demat account.