Valeant Pharmaceuticals International is moving to shed noncore operations and reduce debt after a troubled year through a pair of sell-off deals totaling more than $2 billion.
Last night, Valeant said it agreed to sell its majority stake in Dendreon to Sanpower Group, one of China’s largest privately owned conglomerates, for $819.9 million cash.
Valeant acquired Dendreon in 2015, shelling out $495 million in a deal approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, DE, to lift the developer of prostate cancer treatment Provenge® out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
“With this sale, we are better aligning our product portfolio with Valeant's new operating strategy by exiting the urological oncology business, which is one of our noncore assets,” Valeant CEO Joseph C. Papa said in a statement. “We are pleased to take this step forward in our divestiture program and are continuing to evaluate transactions to simplify our business and strengthen our balance sheet.”
Papa added that Valeant will use proceeds from the sale of Dendreon to permanently repay term loan debt under its Senior Secured Credit Facility.
The deal is expected to close in the first half of this year, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
Under Papa, Valeant has been working to climb out a financial hole that followed a 73% plunge in its share price stemming from disclosures that it used specialty pharmacies to store inventory and record the transactions as sales, touching off a U.S. Department of Justice investigation that resulted in two arrests in November.
Dendreon’s prospective new owner, Sanpower Group, is headquartered in Nanjing and operates a Health & Wellness sector as well as sectors in information services, consumer & retail, financial services, and real estate. Sanpower Group generates over RMB 100 billion ($14.4 billion) in annual revenue, has controlling stakes in more than 100 subsidiaries, and has a 90,000-strong global workforce, including 30,000 based outside China.
Separately, L’Oréal said today it signed a definitive agreement to buy from Valeant the skincare brands CeraVe, AcneFree, and Ambi for a combined $1.3 billion cash. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.
The three brands—which have annualized combined revenue of approximately $168 million—will become part of L'Oréal's Active Cosmetics Division, which includes brands such as La Roche-Posay, Vichy, and SkinCeuticals.
“These three brands, built on strong relationships with health professionals and widely distributed, will nearly double the revenue of our Active Cosmetics Division in the U.S., and will help us satisfy the growing demand for active skincare at accessible prices,” stated Frédéric Rozé, president and CEO of L'Oréal USA.
CeraVe was founded in 2005 and offers a range of advanced skincare products—specifically cleansers, moisturizers, sunscreens, healing ointments, and a dedicated baby line. CeraVe products are distributed through drug stores, mass and beauty retailers, and select online outlets.
AcneFree markets and distributes over-the-counter cleansers and acne treatments in the U.S., while Ambi distributes skincare products formulated for multicultural consumers. Both brands are distributed in drug stores, mass retailers, and select online outlets.