U.S. investment fund Blackstone Group Inc., which is set to acquire the over-the-counter drug unit of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. by March, said Thursday it aims to have the unit go public in the next five to 10 years.

Atsuhiko Sakamoto, senior managing director at Blackstone's private equity division in Tokyo, said Takeda Consumer Healthcare Co. has growth potential but has lacked the necessary investment as its parent has viewed it as a noncore business accounting for only about 2 percent of the group's total revenue.

Takeda Pharmaceutical announced last month it will sell the drug unit, known for its popular Alinamin vitamin pills and Benza cold medicines in Japan, to Blackstone for around 242 billion yen ($2.3 billion). After the sale, expected to be completed by the end of March, the unit will be renamed but retain such brands.

"We want (the unit) to proactively invest in the short term in the business foundation that is very strong, get a bigger market share and return to a growth path," Sakamoto told an online press conference. "Once on the growth path, then we'd like to see the company go public in a span of five to 10 years."

The unit needs to expand business overseas in Chinese-speaking markets, including Taiwan, where Alinamin products are popular, Sakamoto said.

Takeda Pharmaceutical decided to sell the unit to refocus its resources on developing advanced and profitable prescription drugs for cancer and other diseases.

Sakamoto acknowledged the over-the-counter market in Japan is expected to see moderate but steady growth, adding that the country's aging society and swelling social security costs may become "tailwinds" if people seek to reduce medical costs and depend more on nonprescription drugs.

==Kyodo

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