Bids of $14 billion & higher from Glaxo SmithKline, Johnson & Johnson & Reckitt Benckiser has been drawn by Pfizer’s consumer products business. It may take several weeks to resolve the auction for brands including Listrene Mouthwash, Sudafed decongestant & Rolaids antacid.

Glaxo was about to bid than $15 billion & J & J was all set to bid an amount closer to $14 billion. At $14 billion, the consumer products & over-the-counter (OTC) medicine business would be valued at about 3.6 times 2005 sales, or nearly equivalent to that paid by Reckitt for Boots Health Care International last year.

Glaxo might be able to achieve savings by combining Pfizer’s products with its own oral care & smoking-cessation brands in order to justify the higher price.

This deal would clinch Glaxo’s current position as the world’s leading supplier of non-prescription medicines.

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