Novartis completes divestment of animal health biz to Eli Lilly

Novartis has announced that it has completed effective January 1, 2015 the divestment of its animal health division to Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) for approximately $ 5.4 billion. The completion of this transaction is part of a comprehensive set of transactions announced in April last year that will focus Novartis on its three leading businesses of global scale - innovative pharmaceuticals, eye care, and generics.
 
As a result of this announcement, Novartis will show in the first quarter of 2015 an exceptional pre-tax gain of approximately $4.6 billion.
 
In 2015, apart from the animal health divestment gain, the consumer health divisional results will only include the Novartis OTC business.
 
The animal health division had reported net sales of approximately $ 1.1 billion in 2013 and approximately $ 0.9 billion through Q3 2014.