International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. is working with an adviser to explore a potential sale of its pharma solutions business, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The unit could fetch more than $3.5 billion in a sale, said one of the people, asking not to be identified discussing private information. The business is expected to attract interest from peers in the space and private equity firms, the people said.
No final decision has been made and IFF could opt to keep the unit, the people added.
A representative for IFF didn’t respond to a request for comment.
IFF is in the process of selling a number of units as it looks to reduce debt and streamline its portfolio. The company is exploring a $1 billion-plus sale of cosmetics business Lucas Meyer, Bloomberg News has reported.
IFF fell 1.3% to close at $64.76 in New York trading Monday, giving the company a market value of about $16.5 billion.
Its shares have fallen about 30% in the past year as antitrust watchdogs in Switzerland, Europe, the UK and US investigate IFF and its rivals over suspected pricing collusion. IFF has said it is working with authorities and cooperating with their investigation.
(Updates trading in penultimate paragraph.)
Author: Kiel Porter, Crystal Tse and Dinesh Nair
