Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche has said that several potential bidders have come forward for its vitamins and fine chemicals business which the company is looking to sell later this year.
Roche announced earlier this year that it was looking to sell the division after it failed to meet performance expectations, but the Swiss group is yet to decide whether an auction or a spin-off is the best option. The unit is valued at around SFr5 billion.
A report in the Financial Times said that potential bidders had moved quickly to assemble offers as falling share prices and financial market volatility mean that a stock market spin-off is the least likely option. Roche has received bids from both pharmaceutical companies and financial groups.
The vitamins and fine chemicals division had sales of SFr3.45 billion last year, down from SFr3.6 billion in 2000, while operating profits fell 30 per cent to SFr346 million. Roche has decided to focus its energies on its two higher margin divisions, pharmaceuticals and diagnostics.
Roche was fined €525m last year for its part in a long-running price-fixing cartel in the vitamins market it operated with 13 other companies. The group had previously been fined $500 million in the US.
The group has made a SFr760 million provision to cover future liabilities from lawsuits in the US arising from the scandal.
The division is thought most likely to suit a financial bidder rather than a trade buyer, said observers, citing competition issues because of Roche's dominant market share.
Moreover, the varied range of businesses in the division - which stretch from sunscreen to manufacturing citric acid - might appeal to a bidder more interested in breaking up the businesses. Roche has committed to sell the division as a single unit.
Analysts said the final price Roche managed to raise from any sale would depend on market conditions and on the level of debt included with the division.