Blackstone, Carlyle mull $25bn bid for Novartis generics arm

Two private equity giants are reportedly discussing launching a joint bid for the generics unit of pharma giant Novartis, according to reports.

Blackstone and Carlyle Group have discussed teaming up to launch a bid for the Sandoz generics arm of the Swiss drugmaker which could be valued at $25bn (£18.5bn), Bloomberg reported.

The news comes after Novartis announced last year it was conducting a strategic review of the arm and a number of private equity firms are now said to be circling.

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Novartis boss Vas Narasimhan said in early January: “No decision has been taken on Sandoz, we continue to evaluate the options.”

But Vas Narasimhan confirmed in December that there had been buyer interest in the generics arm “but no concrete offers”, he told German magazine WirtschaftsWoche.

A spin off of Novartis’ consumer division would follow similar moves by Merck and Pfizer, while GSK is looking to spin off its consumer division as a separate business.

Johnson & Johnson also unveiled plans last year to create a new company to house its consumer products.

Sandoz generated $9.7 billion in sales last year and German news outlet Handelsblat reported in November that the arm was on sale for of $21.6 billion.

Source: City A.M.

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