Private equity firms are considering a US$10 billion plan to buy and merge older drug brands from Britain’s GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and France’s Sanofi, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing sources.
US-based KKR and Warburg Pincus were among the firms considering making bids for assets owned by GSK and Sanofi, the newspaper quoted several people familiar with the matter as saying.
GSK chief executive officer Andrew Witty in April said the drugmaker was reviewing its portfolio of mature products and wanted to dispose of off-patent drugs marketed in North America and Western Europe.
GSK in May invited firms to consider bidding on the portfolio, which has annual sales of about ￡1 billion (US$1.7 billion).
According to an internal document seen by reporters last month, Sanofi held talks with listed and private equity firms in relation to the sale of a 6.3 billion euro (US$8.5 billion) portfolio of mature drugs.
The report quoted people close to the matter as saying that Blackstone, Advent, Apollo and Bain Capital were among the other private equity players to have shown interest in either or both of the portfolios.
Reuters reported last month that private equity firms looking at GSK products could be deterred from making bids, as the company did not plan to sell the factories needed to make the medicines, nor make available the sales forces required to sell them.
Officials for GSK and Warburg Pincus declined to comment, while the other parties said to be concerned could not immediately be reached for comment.
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