Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical says it will sell its over-the-counter medicine unit to US investment fund the Blackstone Group for about 2.3 billion dollars.
The pharmaceutical giant does not expect its subsidiary Takeda Consumer Healthcare to grow due to Japan's declining population. The unit makes vitamin drinks and cold medicines.
Takeda aims to reduce its debt, which ballooned to about 38 billion dollars after it acquired Irish biotech company Shire last year.
The 60-billion dollar deal holds the record for the largest acquisition of a foreign firm by a Japanese company.
Takeda now plans to focus its resources on developing more profitable prescription drugs, such as those for patients with cancer or digestive system diseases.
