June 29 (Reuters) - Jordan's Hikma Pharmaceuticals Plc has emerged as a bidder for German drugmaker BoehringerIngelheim's generics unit Roxane Labs, Bloomberg reported,citing people familiar with the matter.
Other bidders for the U.S.-based Boehringer unit includeMallinckrodt Plc and Perrigo Co, and a decisioncould be made within weeks for a sale that could fetch as muchas 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion), Bloomberg reported. (http://bloom.bg/1NqCMdX)
However, there is a possibility that the company may chooseto retain the asset, Bloomberg reported.
A spokesman for Perrigo declined to comment. Representativesat Hikma, Boehringer and Mallinckrodt were immediately notavailable for comment.
In January, Reuters reported that Boehringer, Germany'ssecond largest drug maker, was considering a sale of Roxane toput a stronger focus on the development and sale of newpharmaceuticals.
A company spokeswoman at the time said that Boehringer wasnot a specialist in generics and was therefore consideringwhether it made more sense for a generics specialist to ownRoxane Labs.
Roxane's activities include the development and marketing ofBoehringer's generic drugs. It also has a production site makingboth generic drugs and some of Boehringer's patent-protecteddrugs.
Boehringer had sales of 13.3 billion euros in 2014, of which76 percent was from prescription medicines.($1 = 0.8902 euros) (Reporting by Shivam Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by LeslieAdler)
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK)
