Consolidation in global pharmaceutical industries now gathers stem. Stiefel Laboratories Inc., a closely held pharmaceutical maker, is considering selling itself in a deal that could be worth several billion dollars, according to people familiar with the matter.
The potential sale has drawn interest from a number of major drug companies, including Johnson & Johnson, Novartis AG and GlaxoSmithKline PLC, these people said.
Stiefel, which makes anti-itch creams, acne treatments and other dermatological remedies, is hoping to fetch somewhere in the range of $3 billion to $4 billion, according to these people.
A spokeswoman for Stiefel said the company's board has not decided to sell the company and hasn't received any offers. "Like any business, if we received an offer it would be carefully considered," the spokeswoman said in an email.
Stiefel has been controlled for more than 160 years by the founding Stiefel family. Private-equity group Blackstone Group LP, which invested $500 million in the company in 2007, owns a substantial minority stake. Stiefel, founded in Germany in 1847 and now based in Coral Gables, Fla., has annual revenue of about $1 billion, according to a person familiar with the company. Little financial information is available about Stiefel because it is privately held.
Stiefel has entertained offers in the past, but the recent spate of drug deals has renewed interest in the company.
Big pharmaceutical companies, faced with the pending expiration of patents on major drugs, are trying to diversify their businesses. Dermatology and the broader "aesthetic medicine" market is one they are increasingly interested in because of the aging global population.
But the economic downturn has tempered demand for many of these products and hit the share prices of some companies in the field. Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp., another maker of skin products, has seen its shares drop about 40% over the past year, for example.
After several generations of ownership, it's not clear why the Stiefel family would want to sell in such an environment.
Charles Stiefel, the company's chief executive and chairman, has expanded the company in recent years through several acquisitions. Stiefel paid about $605 million to acquire Connetics Corp., a drug company specialized in dermatology, in 2006. Last year, Stiefel bought Barrier Therapeutics Inc. for about $150 million.
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