Pfizer Preparing to Auction off Consumer Healthcare Business in November

Pfizer Preparing to Auction off Consumer Healthcare in November

Pfizer readying to launch an auction process in November to sell off its consumer healthcare business according to important sources, paving the way for a potential $15 billion-plus sale of the headache pill to lip balm business, sources close to the matter told Reuters.

Several global companies, including GlaxoSmithKline and Reckitt Benckiser, have expressed interest in the unit. Other possible bidders could include Procter & Gamble, Sanofi, Johnson & Johnson, and Nestle.

The prospective sale, which is being led by Centerview Partners, Guggenheim Securities, and Morgan Stanley, was first mooted on Oct. 10, when Pfizer said it was considering strategic options for the unit.

A source indicated that bids will be solicited early next year, with a deal reached by mid-2018.

Germany’s Merck KGaA is also looking to divest its consumer health business and has hired JP Morgan to sell the unit, best known for making Seven Seas vitamins.