Bayer AG Offers To Swap Animal Health Unit, Cash For Merck & Co., Inc.'s $14 Billion OTC Unit

Bayer AG is offering to swap its animal health assets for Merck & Co Inc's consumer healthcare business, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, in a move that could give the German drugmaker a leg up in the $14 billion auction of the Merck business. As part of its bid, Bayer has offered to pay the remainder of the acquisition price in cash, these people said, who asked not to be named because the matter is not public. Bayer and Britain's Reckitt Benckiser Group are among the final contenders for the Merck unit, best known for Coppertone sunscreen and Claritin allergy medicine, Reuters reported last weekend.

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