Mayne Pharma nears deal for Teva assets

Australian pharmaceutical company Mayne Pharma Group Ltd is nearing a deal to purchase assets from Teva Pharmaceuticals worth around $600 million, a person familiar with the matter said.

The deal is the last of several large divestitures of U.S. assets required by regulators for the approval of Teva's planned $40 billion acquisition of Allergan Plc's generic drugs portfolio. Teva announced the proposed deal last July.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commision is reviewing Teva's divestiture agreements and is expected to provide approval for the deal with Allergan as early as next month, the source said.

The combination of the two pharmaceutical would be completed soon thereafter, the source added.

In all, Teva has agreed to sell assets to Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Impax Laboratories, Sagent Pharmaceuticals, and Cadila Healthcare, as well as a number of private companies.

The U.S. asset divestitures are worth around $2 billion in total, added the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal talks are private.

Teva and Mayne were not immediately available for comment.

The Australian Financial Review first reported Mayne's plans to acquire the Teva assets.

Teva's proposed acquisition of Allergan's generics portfolio would solidify the Israeli company's position as the world's largest generic manufacturer at a time when scale is increasingly crucial to negotiating favorable terms with payers.

For Allergan, the transaction will focus its business on innovative, brand-name drugs and provide a massive cash pile for future acquisitions.

In Europe, Teva is in the process of finding buyers for assets including its UK and Irish generics business, which is expected to be worth upward of $1.3 billion, the source said.

The European divestitures are expected to be finished by fall of 2016, the source said. They will not effect the timeline of the completion of the Allergan deal, the person added.

Teva worked with investment bank Greenhill & Co Inc and law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP on the transactions.