Report: Valeant More Likely To Sell Drugs Than Business Units

Faced with $30 billion in debt, Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc VRX has few options at its disposal.

Among the company's options to reduce its debt load includes selling off some of its drug assets, or selling complete business units. According to a report by Reuters, Valeant is more likely to sell a "handful" of coveted drugs, including its Xifaxan therapy which is a gastrointestinal antibiotic.

Reuters, citing analysts and investment bankers it interviewed, also added that Valeant could sell its skin care products that fall under its Obagi, Cerave and Solta brand lines.
Also up for sale could be the company's toe fungus treatment, Jublia, that could be worth upwards of $4.5 billion in a potential sale.

The report added that Valeant wants to "stop short" of selling off entire divisions, including Bausch + Lomb, Salix and Medicis. These segments are considered to be "fundamental" to the company's ongoing strategy.

However, analysts aren't fully convinced this is the right path to pursue. Annabel Samimy, an analyst at Stifel, told Reuters that a sale of Bausch + Lomb could net the company as much as $20 billion and "go a long way" toward lowering its debt load.

Shares of Valeant were trading higher by more than 2 percent at $34.13 Tuesday morning.