(Bloomberg) -- Unison Capital, a Tokyo-based private equity firm, is exploring a sale of Ayumi Pharmaceutical Corp., which makes drugs for rheumatic and orthopedic disorders, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Unison is working with JPMorgan Chase & Co. to gauge potential buyer interest in the Japanese drugmaker, which may be valued at around $1 billion, according to the people. The business could attract suitors including buyout funds and health-care companies, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
Japanese companies have announced a record $91 billion of health-care deals this year, led by Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.'s proposed takeover of Shire Plc, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Tokyo-based trading house Mitsui & Co. announced last week it will spend $2 billion to become the biggest shareholder in Asian hospital operator IHH Healthcare Bhd.
Deliberations about a possible sale of Ayumi are at an early stage, and there's no certainty they will lead to a transaction, the people said. Representatives for Ayumi, JPMorgan and Unison declined to comment.
Ayumi was formed after Unison-controlled Hyperion Pharma Co. acquired Santen Pharmaceutical Co.'s anti-rheumatism operations in 2015 and combined it with the drugs business of another Unison portfolio company.
--With assistance from Tesun Oh.
To contact the reporters on this story: Manuel Baigorri in Hong Kong at mbaigorri@bloomberg.net;Lisa Du in Tokyo at ldu31@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Scent at bscent@bloomberg.net, ;K. Oanh Ha at oha3@bloomberg.net, Timothy Sifert
©2018 Bloomberg L.P.
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