Friday, November 27, 2015
Merck KGaA is considering a sale of its allergy business as the German company seeks to reduce debt following the $17 billion takeover of Sigma-Aldrich Corp., according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The business, known as Allergopharma, may fetch about 600 million euros ($636 million) and could attract interest from drug companies and private-equity firms, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. The process is at an early stage and Merck could still decide against a sale, the people said.
Sigma-Aldrich is the company’s biggest deal to date and will let Merck reduce its dependence on drugs after more than a decade of failing to develop a new one. The Allergopharma business focuses on diagnosing allergies and treating them by training patients’ immune systems to be less reactive to substances such as mold and pollen.
A representative for Merck declined to comment.
bloomberg.com
