* Merck KGaA committed to growing over-the-counter division
* Dismisses suggestion business might be sold
* Unit head says may consider small bolt-on acquisitions
By Ben Hirschler
LONDON, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Merck KGaA aims to keephold of its consumer healthcare unit, it said on Friday,pledging to develop a business that is expected to generate 2014sales of $1 billion for the German drugs and chemicals company.
The non-prescription market has seen a wave of consolidationthis year and a $17 billion deal for Merck to buy laboratory supplies business Sigma-Aldrich has prompted somebankers to speculate it might consider selling the consumerunit.
But the family-controlled company insists it has nointention of quitting.
"We really want to stick to that business," UtaKemmerich-Keil, chief executive of Merck Consumer Health, saidduring a media briefing in London highlighting the unit'sstrengths.
"Our strategy is a pure growth strategy and by the end ofthis year we will hopefully hit the $1 billion sales mark."
Consumer health is smaller than Merck's other businessesselling prescription drugs, high-tech chemicals and laboratory equipment but has strong brands like Seven Seas vitamins andBion probiotics.
It also received a boost in January from the transfer ofNeurobion and Floratil, for muscle soreness and diarrhoea, fromthe prescription drug unit Merck Serono.
Kemmerich-Keil said she aimed to have at least three leadingbrands with a minimum 3 percent market share in key targetcountries, which include a number of emerging markets, likeBrazil, where demand for self-medication is growing strongly.
While securing strong positions in local markets couldinvolve small bolt-on acquisitions or licensing deals, she seesno need for large-scale acquisitions, despite recent moves byleading players Bayer and GlaxoSmithKline toboost their OTC footprints.
"OTC is a local play, so you need to make sure in themarkets you are in that you are strong," she said. "It's notimportant how big the overall business is."
This year's deal-making has seen Bayer acquire the OTCbusiness of Merck's U.S. namesake Merck & Co, followinga fiercely contested auction also involving Reckitt Benckiser. GSK has also clinched a complex deal for a stake inNovartis's consumer products, while Perrigo has agreed to buy Belgian OTC firm Omega Pharma.
Following the deals, Germany's Merck now has a No. 11position in consumer health. (Additional reporting by Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt; Editing byGreg Mahlich)