Valeant Pharmaceuticals agrees to divest $2.1bn in assets

L’Oreal will pay Valeant $1.3bn for three skin-care brands, CeraVe, AcneFree and AMBI.

The CeraVe, AcneFree, and AMBI product lines have annualized revenue of about $168m.

Founded in 2005, CeraVe develops cleansers, moisturizers and baby products and is claimed to be one of the fastest-growing active skincare brands in the US.

AcneFree markets and distributes a range of OTC cleansers and acne treatments in the US, while Ambi distributes skincare products formulated for the requirements of multicultural consumers.

Valeant is also selling its Dendreon Pharmaceuticals unit to China's Sanpower Group for $819.9m.

Valeant had purchased the bankrupt Dendreon in 2015 for nearly $300m.

Dendreon's first and only commercialized product is Provenge, an autologous cellular immunotherapy for prostate cancer treatment that secured approval from the US Food and Drug Administration in April 2010. 

Both the transactions are expected to close in the first quarter of 2017, subject to regulatory approvals.

Valeant CEO Joseph Papa said with the sale of Dendreon, the company is better aligning its product portfolio with its new operating strategy by exiting the urological oncology business, which is one of its non-core assets.

Commenting on the deal with L’Oreal, Papa said: “We believe these products will benefit even further from the resources and capabilities of a global beauty company like L'Oréal, which is well equipped to build on the success of these brands and expand into new global markets.”

Image: Valeant Pharmaceuticals agrees to divest $2.1bn in assets. Photo: courtesy of adamr/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.