02:50 PM EDT, 11/01/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Canadian generic drug manufacturer Apotex Inc. is making plans for a potential initial public offering next year, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg is reporting Friday.

RBC Capital Markets, Jefferies Financial Group and TD Securities are advisers for the deal, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing information that is still private. No decisions have been made yet on exact timing or size, and more banks may be added to the lineup later, they said.

Spokespeople for TD and Jefferies declined to comment. Spokespeople for RBC and Apotex didn't immediate respond to requests for comment.

Bloomberg noted that Apotex, based in Toronto, was founded in 1974 by Barry Sherman, who built it into one of the world's largest makers of generic drugs. Sherman and his wife, Honey Sherman, were found dead in their Toronto home in December 2017 in what said was a double homicide.

With a net worth of about C$3.6 billion ($2.6 billion) at the time of their deaths, they ranked as two of the wealthiest people in the world ever to be murdered, and the crime remains unsolved almost seven years later.

Apotex was sold to New York-based private equity firm SK Capital Partners in a deal that closed in 2023. The sale valued the company at between C$3 billion and C$4 billion, people with knowledge of the transaction told Bloomberg Businessweek last year.

A spokesperson for SK Capital did not reply to questions from Bloomberg News.

Earlier this year, Apotex bought Montreal-based Searchlight Pharma Inc., a specialty health-care company that focuses on selling patented medication focusing on women's health, dermatology, allergy, pain management and hospital specialty markets.

(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally, and/or from other media sources. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)

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