(Reuters) - German drugs and chemicals maker Merck KGaA (DE:MRCG) is planning to sell its allergy business, Allergopharma, Bloomberg reported, citing sources.
The sale, which could fetch about 600 million euros ($636.42 million), is an attempt by the company to offload its debt after the Sigma Aldrich Corp takeover, the multimedia news website said on Thursday.
The allergy business unit sale process, which could draw interest from drug companies and private-equity firms, is still at an early stage and the company could decide against it, Bloomberg said.
The company raised its full-year guidance for core earnings before one-offs, two weeks ago, to include the $17 billion acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich (O:SIAL), which has cleared regulatory hurdles.
Merck could not be reached immediately for a comment outside regular business hours.