Blackstone agrees $2.3b carve-out from Japan's Takeda

It is the private equity firm’s second Japan buyout since it established a country team in 2017 and its first corporate carve-out. Both deals are in the healthcare space. Last year, Blackstone acquired Ayumi Pharmaceutical from Unison Capital for around $1 billion. The GP is investing from its debut Asia private equity fund, which closed in 2019 at $2.3 billion, though larger transactions generally involve multiple pools of capital.

The divestment of Takeda Consumer Healthcare (TCH) is part of a broader streamlining program by its parent that as already seen three non-core assets sold of this year. In June, it offloaded an Asia-focused drug portfolio to Korean strategic peer Celltrion for $278 million. Takeda, which posted JPY3.3 billion in revenue for the 2019 financial year, is now directing its resources towards oncology, rare diseases, neuroscience, gastroenterology, and certain plasma-derived therapies and vaccines.

The company restructured TCH as a stand-alone business in 2017. The portfolio includes Alinamin, Japan’s first vitamin B1 preparation and a top seller, as well as Benza, a cold remedy. TCH generated JPY60.9 billion in revenue for the 12 months ended March 2020, down from JPY64.1 billion a year earlier. Over the same period, net profit fell from JPY9.6 billion to JPY8.6 billion.

“We are confident that under Blackstone, TCH will be well-positioned to continue growing and developing its product offerings in the years to come to address the evolving needs of consumers,” Christophe Weber, Takeda’s president and CEO, said in a statement. He added that Japan’s increasingly competitive consumer health care market was another reason for the divestment.

Blackstone plans to retain the existing TCH management and employees and work with them in developing the business.

AVCJ Research’s records indicate this is the largest private equity buyout in Japan since a Bain Capital-led consortium agreed to acquire Toshiba Memory Corporation (TMC) for JPY2 trillion in September 2017. It ranks fourth among the biggest deals of the last 10 years, trailing TMC, Calsonic Kansei Corporation, and Hitachi Kokusai Electric.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Buyouts
• Healthcare
• Japan
• The Blackstone Group
• Pharmaceuticals