Merck in final talks to sell consumer unit

Merck & Co Inc is in the final stages of selling its consumer healthcare unit for close to $14 billion, with Bayer AG and Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc among final contenders to clinch a deal as soon as next week, people familiar with the matter said.

Germany's Bayer and British consumer products giant Reckitt have emerged as front runners to win the auction after each offering roughly $13.5 billion for the Merck consumer unit, best known for Coppertone sunscreen and Claritin allergy medicine, the sources said.

Both bidders are very keen to buy the asset and the price tag could go higher in the final days, one person added. All the people asked not to be named because the matter is not public.

Representatives for US drugmaker Merck, as well as Bayer and Reckitt, declined to comment. The sale would be the latest in a wave of health care deals in recent days, including Zimmer Holdings Inc's $13.35 billion acquisition of orthopaedics rival Biomet Inc and the agreement between Novartis AG and GlaxoSmithKline Plc to trade more than $20 billion worth of assets, with Eli Lilly and Co buying Novartis' animal health business for $5.4 billion.

At the same time, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc and Bill Ackman are locked in a $47 billion battle for Allergan Inc; Mylan Inc is seeking to buy Sweden's Meda AB for around $9 billion including debt; and there is talk of a $100 billion bid for AstraZeneca Plc from Pfizer Inc.