Listerine business sold in €13bn deal

Healthcare brands including Listerine and Nicorette were today sold to Johnson & Johnson in a deal worth $16.6bn US dollars (€13.2bn).

The proposed sale of Pfizer’s personal care and over-the-counter products, which generated revenues of $3.9bn (€3.1bn) in 2005, is expected to give Johnson market leadership in nine areas, including smoking cessation and mouthwash, and consolidate its position as the world’s biggest consumer healthcare company.

Johnson & Johnson already owns painkiller Tylenol, plaster brand Band-Aid, sugar alternative Splenda and skin care range Neutrogena.

It is thought to have beaten off competition from GlaxoSmithKline and Reckitt Benckiser, which recently won the Strepsils-to-Nurofen division of Boots.

The addition of the Listerine brand will triple the size of its healthcare business, producing a franchise worth more than $1bn (€796,736) which gives further expansion in 60 markets around the world.

Johnson will also acquire the US rights to Pfizer’s allergy treatment Zyrtec once the current patent has expired.

Johnson & Johnson chairman William Weldon, said: “This combination creates the world’s premier consumer healthcare company. This acquisition builds upon our broad base in healthcare products and our leadership objectives in the consumer, pharmaceutical and medical devices and diagnostic markets”.

Pfizer had been reviewing its strategic options for its consumer healthcare division since February to enable it to focus on its prescription drug business.

The acquisition is expected to close by the end of 2006, subject to regulatory approval and is expected to start contributing to Johnson earnings from 2009.