Private Equity Firms Show Interest In Sanofi's Consumer Health Unit: Bloomberg

(RTTNews) - Several private equity firms reportedly have shown interest in pharmaceutical giant Sanofi's (SNY) consumer health unit.

According to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, buyout firms, including Advent International and Blackstone Group Inc., are seeking to invest in the consumer health division of the French pharmaceutical giant ahead of a potential separation of the business.

The business is also drawing early interest from Bain Capital, CVC Capital Partners, EQT AB and KKR & Co., according to the report. The unit could be valued at about $20 billion in any deal, they said.

Sanofi said in October that it plans to separate the division. The company had then said that separation would enable greater management focus and resource allocation to the needs of the Biopharma business, where value-creating opportunities and longer-term operational levers have been identified to support the accelerated R&D investments.