PARIS - Sanofi has entered into talks to sell a controlling 50% stake in its consumer health business Opella to U.S. private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice, the French pharmaceutical group said on Friday.

The announcement confirms an earlier Reuters report that it was closing in on a sale estimated at around 15 billion euros ($16.41 billion).

Sanofi did not disclose any financial details of the potential deal, and said further updates would be provided in due course. Shares in the group were down 0.46% at 0717 GMT.

The company said in October 2023 that it was reviewing potential scenarios to separate out its consumer healthcare business, as it seeks to shore up new drug development spending at its core business

In September, Bloomberg reported that Sanofi had received a bid from CD&R as well as from French rival PAI Partners for the Opella business.

Opella employs more than 11,000 people and owns brands like the painkiller Doliprane, popular in its home market.

The French finance ministry said in a statement that CD&R was a "serious investment fund" with positive prospects for Opella's development and its plants in France.

It added that it would require economic commitments from Sanofi and CD&R including guaranteeing that the business's headquarters and decision-making centres would remain in France, and protection of its industrial footprint in the country.

"This proposed sale does not call into question the production in France of Doliprane or other essential medicines produced by Opella on our territory, nor the supply of these medicines to the market. This is naturally part of the commitments requested," it added.

Rival Johnson & Johnson hived off its consumer health business Kenvue in May last year, while GSK and Pfizer spun off their consumer divisions in 2022.

($1 = 0.9143 euros)

(Reporting by Piotr Lipinski and Dominique Patton; Editing by Jan Harvey and Jane Merriman)