Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Anderson Mori & Tomotsune have represented Blackstone in its 242 billion yen ($2.3 billion) acquisition of Takeda Consumer Healthcare, which turned to Nishimura & Asahi for advice. The deal is expected to close in March 2021.

Takeda Consumer Healthcare is a subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical and a leading provider of over the counter (OTC) medicines in Japan.

According to Reuters, Takeda Pharmaceutical has been selling its OTC assets worldwide as it seeks to refocus its business and reduce debt from last year’s $59 billion acquisition of Shire.

The deal marks Blackstone’s second private equity transaction in Japan’s healthcare sector, following the acquisition of AYUMI Pharmaceutical in 2019.

Simpson Thacher partners Tony King, Shahpur Kabraji and Jonathan Goldstein led on the transaction. Meanwhile, the Nishimura team was led by partners Yo Ota, Hiroko Shibata and Taeko Morita.

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