Stiefel Labs viewing a sale of itself? WSJ

US firm Stiefel Laboratories, the wold's largest independent company focused exclusively on dermatology, which last year bought Barrier  Therapeutics for around $148.0 million, is considering selling itself,  according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. It also acquired  dermatology products specialist Connectics in 2006 for $605.0 million.

Stiefel, founded in Germany in 1847 by the like-named family and now  located in Coral Gables, Florida, with an annual turnover of around $1.0  billion, could fetch a price tag of $3.0 billion to $4.0 billion, says  the WSJ.

The paper reports that a number of companies have expressed interest in  acquiring the firm, which has as a substantial minority shareholder in  the Blackstone Group, citing specifically drug majors Johnson & Johnson  of the USA, GlaxoSmithKline of the UK and Switzerland's Novartis as  potential suitors.