Exclusive: Merck in final talks to sell consumer unit for near $14 billion - sources

By Anjuli Davies, Olivia Oran and Soyoung Kim LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - 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 frontrunners 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. Representatives for U.S. drugmaker Merck, as well as Bayer and Reckitt, declined to comment. The sale would be the latest in a wave of healthcare 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.



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