Taisho Pharmaceutical Holdings Co. has emerged as the leading contender to acquire Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.’s Japanese consumer health care business, according to people familiar with the matter.
The company is in advanced talks with Takeda on terms of a transaction, and the two parties aim to reach an agreement in the coming days, the people said. Taisho is poised to beat out several private equity bidders that were also pursuing the business, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. The unit could be valued at more than $3 billion, Bloomberg News reported in April.
Takeda, Japan’s largest drugmaker by sales, raised its profit outlook after the market close, based on one-time items including for expected costs for a drug it no longer needs to divest. It now expects operating profit will be ¥395 billion ($3.8 billion) for the fiscal year through March, up from its previous forecast of ¥355 billion.
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