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SYDNEY/ZURICH, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Australia's CSL Ltd, the world's largest blood products company, said onMonday it had agreed to buy Novartis AG's globalinfluenza vaccine business for $275 million, part of the Swissdrugmaker's drive to focus on its best assets.
The sale of the flu business will conclude Novartis'overhaul of its units which it had flagged in April, aimed atstrengthening its cancer business and exiting underperformingoperations.
Novartis said in April GlaxoSmithKline was buyingits vaccines business, excluding flu, for $5.25 billion pluspotential milestone payments of up to $1.8 billion androyalties.
The sale of its flu business to CSL will trigger anexceptional pretax impairment charge of approximately $1.1billion, as the selling price is below the book value of theassets, Novartis said in a statement on Monday.
The charge will be excluded from the Swiss drugmaker's coreresults and a one-time operating income gain expected from thedeal with GSK will compensate for the charge, it said.
Combining the Novartis unit with CSL subsidiary bioCSL wouldcreate the No.2 player in the $4 billion global influenzavaccine industry, CSL said in a statement to the Australianstock exchange.
CSL, which said it would fund the deal with surplus cash,estimated integration costs at $100 million, while synergybenefits were seen at $75 million a year by 2020.
The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2015,pending regulatory approval, Novartis said. (Reporting by Lincoln Feast in Sydney and Alice Baghdjian inZurich; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and David Holmes)