Takeda's proposed $10 billion divestiture of Japan's OTC business is nearing completion!

On August 19th Japan's Kyodo news agency quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that talks between Takeda and Blackstone Group, the US private equity firm, were in the final stages of negotiations to sell Takeda's domestic consumer health business in Japan, with the two companies aiming to finalise a final deal by the end of the month.
means that the last and largest piece of Takeda's $10bn divestiture plan may soon be over.
, however, the rumoured deals vary in size.
The Nikkei Asia Review said the deal was worth Y250bn ($2.37bn), while Kyodo said it was worth Y300bn ($2.85bn), both significantly lower than previously speculated.
's OTC franchise in Japan is known for its vitamin tablet Alinamin range and energy drinks.
is a relatively small business compared to Takeda's prescription drug division.
2019, the division's sales were 64.1 billion yen, or only 3% of the company's total sales.
is not surprising to Takeda by divesting its OTC business.
To pay off the huge $59bn debt generated by the acquisition of Shire, Takeda intends to divest $10bn worth of assets, targeting drugs outside the five focus areas : gastrointestinal, oncology, rare diseases, neuroscience and plasma therapy.
, Takeda had completed a $7.7bn divestiture, while the sale of Japan's OTC would enable it to meet its $10bn target.
consumer health products have also played a major role in several other deals, including the sale of products from a number of Commonwealth countries to Stada, Germany, the sale of non-core assets in the Middle East and Africa to Acino International of Switzerland, the sale of Products from Latin America to Hypera, the sale of European products to Origfarm in Denmark, and the recent sale of 18 prescription and over-the-counter drugs in the Asia-Pacific region to Celltrion, South Korea.
but there is also speculation that Takeda's management may shy away from the potentially unpopular move to sell its local business.
, opponents of the Shire deal had feared that the company might shift its focus away from Japan, where Takeda's divestitures were largely focused on outside the country.
in addition to Blackstone, Local consumer health giant Taisho Pharmaceuticals, US private equity firm Bain Capital and CVC Capital Partners are among the final bidders for Takeda's OTC business.
Blackstone has also invested heavily in the biopharmaceutical industry, recently raising $4.6 billion for its latest life sciences fund.
addition, Blackstone is reportedly in talks with KKR, a US private equity firm, to help the Indian Serum Institute raise $1bn to support the production of five external COVID-19 vaccine candidates.
, Blackstone also acquired Ayumi, which focuses on anti-rheumate drugs and orthopaedics, last year.
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