Ratiopharm gets at least 10 bids: sources

By Philipp Halstrick and Quentin Webb

FRANKFURT/LONDON (Reuters) - German generic drugmaker Ratiopharm has attracted at least 10 first-round bids, several people familiar with the procedure told Reuters on Wednesday, indicating a competitive auction was underway.

The strong initial interest comes despite intense price pressure in Germany -- where Ratiopharm makes half its sales -- and includes several bidders from the private equity industry, which struggled to do any deals of size during the depths of the financial crisis.

Bidders from the healthcare industry include Israel's Teva, Mylan of the United States, Sanofi-Aventis of France, China's Sinopharm and Actavis of Iceland, the sources said.

Buyout firms participating in the round of bids, which were non-binding, include TPG, Advent in collaboration with Goldman Sachs, Permira and KKR.

One source said EQT had also filed a bid.

Bidders will be asked to confirm their non-binding offers in December and a smaller group will make binding offers in February, some of the sources said. Ratiopharm has said it aims to conclude a deal in the first quarter of 2010.

A spokesman for Ratiopharm, put up for sale to cut its owner's debt, declined to comment.

Teva, Actavis, Goldman Sachs and all private equity companies named by the sources also declined comment. Sanofi, Sinopharm and Mylan were not immediately available for comment.