Aspen on track to dispose of baby milk business

Aspen Pharmacare said on Thursday it expected the conditions for the sale of its infant formula business to be in place by the first quarter of 2019.

The drugmaker's shares tumbled 35 percent within a week after it announced the sale of its infant formula business in September to French company Lactalis for R12.9 billion to focus on its core pharma business.

Some analysts felt the sale price was too low for what had been Aspen's main income generator.

"Currently, each of Aspen's lenders, the South African Reserve Bank and Nestle have consented and/or approved the disposal insofar as is necessary," it said in a trading update.