By Adria Calatayud and Helena Smolak

Sanofi entered into exclusive talks to sell a controlling stake in its consumer-healthcare business Opella to Clayton Dubilier & Rice in a deal that values the business as a whole at 16 billion euros ($17.39 billion), including debt.

The proposed transaction would see the French pharmaceutical company sell a controlling 50% stake in Opella--home to brands such as Allegra, Dulcolax and IcyHot--to CD&R, French state-owned investment bank Bpifrance take a stake of about 2% in the unit and Sanofi retain the remaining 48%, Sanofi said Monday.

The move to enter exclusivity with CD&R came after Sanofi's disclosure that it had opened talks with the New York-based private-equity group sparked a political debate in France over the future of Opella, which makes over-the-counter medicines such as Doliprane, a popular painkiller in France.

The French government obtained guarantees that its demands over employment, production and investment would be respected for Doliprane and other essential medicines to France, Finance Minister Antoine Armand said on X on Sunday.

"Nothing changes on who we are and where we are," Sanofi Chief Executive Paul Hudson said in a call with reporters.

Sanofi said it expects this year's business earnings per share to grow by at least a low-single digit percentage at constant currency excluding Opella. The company's previous guidance, which included Opella, called for a stable business EPS at constant currency, but would have been lifted even including Opella due to an expected strong performance in the third quarter, it said.

The French drugmaker laid out plans to separate its consumer division--home to brands such as Allegra, Dulcolax and IcyHot--from its innovative medicines and vaccines businesses a year ago. With its decision, Sanofi joined peers Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and GSK in hiving off businesses that sell over-the-counter medicines to focus on more lucrative, but riskier, prescription drugs.

The company said the proposed deal is subject to finalization of definitive agreements, completion of social consultations and customary statutory approvals. Completion of the deal is expected in the second quarter of 2025 at the earliest, Sanofi said.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com and to Helena Smolak at Helena Smolak at helena.smolak@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 21, 2024 02:16 ET (06:16 GMT)

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