Pfizer will launch an auction process in November to sell off its consumer healthcare business, unnamed sources told Reuters.
Here are four things to know.
1. Pfizer first said it was contemplating strategic options for the unit Oct. 10.
2. Pfizer Consumer Healthcare, which sells common over-the-counter products like Advil, Centrum and ChapStick, represents one of the biggest OTC healthcare products businesses in the world and carries a potential $15 billion-plus price tag.
3. Sources said several companies, including GlaxoSmithKline and Reckitt Benckiser, have already expressed interest in the consumer health unit. Other potential bidders include Procter & Gamble, Sanofi, Johnson & Johnson and Nestle, according to the sources.
4. The auction process will likely extend through next year, with a deal being reached near the middle of 2018, a source told Reuters.
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