Teva, which has been rumored to be looking to offload its women’s health unit since April, has finally gotten that done. After selling one piece of the biz for more than $1 billion a week ago, the beleaguered drugmaker today unveiled terms to sell the remaining products for $1.38 billion, which it can use to pay down debt.
Teva announced a sale of contraception, fertility, menopause and osteoporosis products to CVC Capital Partners Fund VI for $703 million Monday morning. The products generated $258 million in sales last year. Simultaneously, Teva sold emergency contraception brands, which brought in $140 million last year, to Foundation Consumer Healthcare for $675 million. The deals are expected to close yet this year.
The sales come just one week after Teva offloaded its intrauterine copper contraceptive Paragard to CooperSurgical for $1.1 billion. Together, the agreements represent women’s health divestitures totaling $2.48 billion. Teva picked up the women’s health unit from Merck KGaA for €265 million in 2010.
It’s all part of an effort to refocus and pay down debt for a drugmaker that has had a tough year. After picking up Allergan’s generics offerings for $40.5 billion back in 2015, Teva has suffered from negative pricing dynamics in the field and various other challenges. It recently hired a new CEO and announced a major round of layoffs—7,000 jobs—in an attempt to improve its fortunes.
Teva is still looking for a buyer for its European oncology and pain assets, another business slated for a sale.
Teva began exploring the women’s health sale following the departure of former CEO Erez Vigodman earlier this year, according to a Bloomberg report at the time. The drugmaker then kicked off a CEO search that ultimately landed on Lundbeck CEO Kåre Schultz. Schultz will be tasked with engineering a turnaround for a drugmaker that has seen its share price fall by 64% in one year.
By Eric Sagonowsky
Source: Fierce Pharma
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