Glaxo, Sanofi, Trend Up On Potential Deal For Established Brands

Two European drug giants trended higher Monday on a report that at least two private equity groups had bid on the companies' older drug portfolios. GlaxoSmithKlein PLC

and Sanofi

are fielding bids from KKR & Co. L.P.

and Warburg Pincus according to the Financial Times. Total for the deal could top $10 billion as private equity companies seek to merge the two portfolios according to the report, which cited unnamed sources. Glaxo has said it will divest established products with annual sales of $1.68 billion "before the end of the year." Glaxo announced the action July 23 when it said drug and vaccine sales fell 4 percent in its second quarter and 2014 sales growth seems "unlikely." Reuters reported in April that Sanofi was looking into a similar sale of products that might be worth $7 billion to $8 billion. And the Wall Street Journal repeated the rumor in June, adding Merck & Co. Inc.

to the list with a potential sale of established brands that it said might garner $15 billion. Glaxo changed hands recently at $48.24, up 0.44 percent; Sanofi was up only slightly at $53.27 while healthcare stocks broadly fell 2.3 percent.