ZURICH (Reuters) - Nestle (S:NESN) is the frontrunner to buy Merck (NYSE:MRK) KGaA's (DE:MRCG) consumer health unit that could fetch as much as $5 billion, financial news service Bloomberg said on Wednesday, quoting unidentified sources familiar with the matter.
Bloomberg said Nestle had submitted the highest offer and Merck was likely to select a winner during the first quarter, but might also choose not to sell the assets after all.
It quoted sources saying that generic drugmaker Perrigo (N:PRGO) and the private equity owners of German drug firm Stada (DE:STAGn) had dropped out of the process, while Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc (L:RB) and Mylan NV (O:MYL) were still suitors for the business.
A spokeswoman for Nestle said the company was not commenting on rumours.