Takeda mulling sale of emerging market drugs – report

Takeda could be considering selling some emerging-market drugs in a bid to cut debts following its merger with the Shire that completed earlier this month, according to a press report. In order to finance the $62 billion takeovers, Takeda had to take out bank loans of around $31 billion and needs to sell off assets to pay off the debt and cut repayment overheads. Bloomberg reported that one option under consideration is emerging markets drugs that Takeda acquired through it's $13.7 billion mergers with Switzerland’s Nycomed in 2011. According to the report, Takeda is working with Bank of America Corp to gauge potential buyer interest in the assets.
Citing insider sources that do not want to be named, Bloomberg said that medicines include over-the-counter and prescription drugs, which could fetch around $3 billion. Bloomberg said that discussions are at an early stage and there is no certainty that they will result in a sale, according to the sources. The Japanese pharma went on record to say that it has not made any decisions regarding which assets to sell, while a representative for Bank of America declined to comment.