Takeda to sell unit to Blackstone for $2.3b

Bloomberg

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co agreed to sell its Japanese consumer healthcare business for 242 billion yen ($2.3 billion) to Blackstone Group Inc, which plans to take the over-the-counter medication unit public in about five years.
For the drugmaker, the sale could represent one of the last big pieces of its plan to dispose $10 billion in assets after its $62 billion mega-acquisition of Shire Plc last year.
The unit, which sold for a lower price than expected likely due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its finances, could benefit from the government’s push to curb healthcare costs, including in prescription medicine.
But it’s been losing ground to rivals in Japan in recent years and the Blackstone takeover could help rejuvenate the seller of household brands like Alinamin energy drinks and Benza Block cold medication.
Blackstone aims to invest 50 billion yen into the business, with a goal of exiting the investment in about five years by taking the company public, said Atsuhiko Sakamoto, a senior managing director at the asset manager, in an interview with Bloomberg on Monday.
It has a three-year plan to strengthen the business’s Asia sales through its networks in Taiwan, China and Thailand, and to develop and launch new products based off its already-popular offerings, he said.
“It has lost some market share in recent years due to lack of investment and new products. We want to put it
on track for self-sustaining growth,” Sakamoto said.
The unit generated revenue of 60 billion yen in the 2019 financial year, said Takeda’s statement.