By Andrew Morse
ZURICH-- Novartis AG said Thursday it had completed a roughly
$5.4 billion sale of its animal health division to Eli Lilly &
Co., part of the Swiss drug giant's sweeping portfolio
overhaul.
Basel-based Novartis said the transaction would result in an
exceptional pretax gain of about $4.6 billion in the first quarter
of 2015.
The sale of the animal health division is part of a complex
overhaul of Novartis that will focus the company on three core
businesses. The businesses--pharmaceuticals, eye care and generic
drugs are deemed to have global scale that will let them be
competitive.
As part of the overhaul, which was announced last April,
Novartis is acquiring London-based GlaxoSmithKline PLC's oncology
unit for around $14.5 billion, adding to the company's lineup of
cancer drugs. At the same time, Glaxo is paying $5.25 billion for
Novartis's vaccines business, including its promising Bexsero
meningitis B vaccine.
The two companies will also combine their over-the-counter drug
businesses under Glaxo's management.
Novartis said the animal health division had net sales of about
$1.1 billion in 2013 and had posted net sales of about $900 million
through the third quarter of 2014.
Sales at Indianapolis-based Lilly's animal-health business more
than doubled to $2.15 billion in 2013 from 2007, as the company
expanded its operations through a series of acquisitions.
Write to Andrew Morse at andrew.morse@wsj.com
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