Japan's Mitsubishi Chemical Group has picked U.S. investment fund Bain Capital as the preferred bidder for its pharmaceutical subsidiary, Tanabe Mitsubishi Pharma, in a deal that could value it at over $3 billion,

Bain Capital is in talks to acquire Mitsubishi Chemical Group’s pharmaceutical business in a potential multibillion-dollar deal, a person familiar with the matter said.

TOKYO (Reuters) -Mitsubishi Chemical Group picked U.S. investment fund Bain Capital as the preferred bidder for its pharmaceutical subsidiary, Tanabe Mitsubishi Pharma, the Nikkei reported on Monday. The company is likely to sell its Tanabe Mitsubishi Pharma unit to Bain Capital for more than 500 billion yen ($3.2 billion), the report said.