HONG KONG, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Global private equity

firms Blackstone and Bain Capital are among final bidders

for Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, a unit of Japan's Mitsubishi

Chemical Group ( MTLHF ), in a deal that could value it at between $3

billion and $3.5 billion, three sources said.

Mitsubishi Chemical ( MTLHF ) has hired Goldman Sachs ( GS ) to run

the sale process and binding bids are due on Dec. 24, the

sources said.

Local private equity firm Japan Industrial Partners (JIP) is

also bidding for the company, said the sources, who all declined

to be named as the information was confidential.

Blackstone, Bain Capital, Goldman Sachs ( GS ) and Mitsubishi

Chemical ( MTLHF ) declined to comment. Tanabe referred Reuters request

for comment to its parent company.

Representatives for JIP could not be reached and the firm

did not respond to a written request for comment submitted via

its website.

Mitsubishi Chemical ( MTLHF ) said in September, in response to a news

report about the Tanabe sale, that the group is continuously

reviewing the ideal business portfolio for all businesses,

including pharma, and exploring all options including

divestiture.

Set up over 90 years ago, Osaka-based Tanabe's pipeline

includes a range of drugs for the central nervous system,

immuno-inflammation and oncology. It has units in more than a

dozen locations across three continents outside Japan, its

website showed.

In the first half of the fiscal year to end-March, 2025

Mitsubishi Chemical's ( MTLHF ) pharma segment reported a 6% increase in

sales revenue to 232.5 billion yen and a 28% rise in core

operating income to 41.4 billion yen, according to group

disclosures.