Cerberus Weighs Sale of $800 Million Drugmaker Covis

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. buyout firm Cerberus Capital Management is considering a sale of its closely-held drugmaker Covis Pharma Holdings Sarl that could fetch about $800 million, according to people familiar with the matter.

Cerberus is working with a financial adviser as it seeks a buyer for the pharmaceutical company, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. Covis has attracted interest from other private equity firms seeking to leverage the business for more acquisitions, the people said.

Covis is a specialty pharmaceutical company with products targeting respiratory, allergy, cardiovascular, gastroenterology and central nervous system diseases, according to its website. It has been built by Cerberus since 2011 through a series of acquisitions and asset disposals. In 2015, it sold a portfolio of products to Concordia Healthcare Corp., now named Advanz Pharma Corp, for $1.2 billion.

A formal sale process is expected to start soon, the people said. Sale considerations are still ongoing, no final decision has been made and Cerberus could still decide to keep the business, the people said.

A representative for Cerberus declined to comment, while a representative for Covis didn’t immediately respond to requests seeking comment.

Founded in 1992, Cerberus has more than $40 billion in assets across credit, private equity and real estate, according to its website.

To contact the reporter on this story: Manuel Baigorri in Hong Kong at mbaigorri@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fion Li at fli59@bloomberg.net, Ville Heiskanen

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