Sources: Drug maker Apotex prepares for IPO

Canadian generic drug maker Apotex Inc. is making plans for a potential initial public offering (IPO) next year, according to sources close to the situation, cited by Bloomberg.

They say RBC Capital Markets, Jefferies Financial Group and TD Securities are the advisers on the deal, but no decision has yet been made on the exact timing or size of the offer. At the same time, it is possible that several banks will be hired to administer the offer, according to the sources.

Spokesmen for TD Securities and Jefferies Financial declined to comment on the information published by Bloomberg. Spokespeople for RBC and Apotex did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Toronto-based Apotex was founded in 1974 by Barry Sherman, who has grown it into one of the world's largest generic drug manufacturers. Sherman and his wife, Honey Sherman, were found dead in their Toronto home in December 2017 in what was said to be a double murder.

With a net worth of approximately C$3.6 billion (US$2.6 billion) at the time of their deaths, the Shermans ranked as two of the world's richest people ever to be murdered, and the murder remains unresolved nearly seven years later.

Apotex was sold to New York-based private equity firm SK Capital Partners in a deal due in 2023. The sale valued the company at between US$3 billion and US$4 billion, according to sources cited last year by Bloomberg Businessweek.

Earlier this year, Apotex bought Searchlight Pharma Inc., a Montreal-based health care company. Searchlight focuses on selling proprietary medicines to the women's health, dermatology, allergy, pain management and hospital specialty markets. The value of the transaction was not disclosed, but The Globe and Mail newspaper estimated the deal at more than $500 million.