The Carlyle Group LP (NYSE: CG) and Pacific Equity Partners have reached an agreement to purchase iNova Pharmaceuticals, an Australian developer of drug products, from Valeant Pharmaceuticals Internationals Inc. (NYSE:VRX) for $930 million. Valeant says it will continue to "continue to evaluate opportunities" to strengthen its balance sheet. iNova, headquartered in Chatswood, Australia, markets and distributes pharmaceutical prescription medicines, over-the-counter consumer drugs, and surgical and medical devices. The target sells products under a number of brands, including: Airomir, Aldara, Aquae, Dermadrate, Dermaveen, Lipz, Medic, Nyal, Obagi, and Reef. iNova serves more than 15 countries across the Australia, Asia Pacific, and South Africa markets. “We intend to build on iNova’s diversified healthcare platform by investing in product development, geographical expansion, marketing, staff and potential acquisitions of additional brands,” states Pacific Equity managing partner David Brown. The iNova deal is expected to close before year-end 2017. Founded in 1998, Pacific Equity is a private equity firm based in Sydney, Australia. The PE firm currently manages approximately $3.5 billion in funds. Pacific Equity has completed nearly 28 platform acquisitions and more than 100 add-on deals across a variety of industries, including: education, consumer goods, food and beverage, business services, and financial services. Headquartered in Washington, DC, the Carlyle Group is a global asset management firm with offices across North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia. The firm has nearly $158 billion in assets under management across 281 investment vehicles. Recently, the firm raised a fourth distressed fund, closed a collateralized loan obligation with $507 million in committed capital, and also raised a $2.8 billion credit fund. Carlyle also bought consumer data provider Claritas from Nielsen (NYSE: NLSN). Valeant is a multinational pharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of medical products primarily in the areas of dermatology, eye health, neurology and branded generics. Based in Laval, Canada, Valeant bought Sprout Pharmaceuticals in August 2015. The pharmaceutical industry remains to be a growing market for M&A. Deals within the sector include: Carlyle’s joint deal with Bourne Partners to establish Phoenix Therapeutics as a platform company to pursue manufacturers of drug products; Eiger BioPharmaceuticals Inc.’s purchase of Celladon Corp.; Midatech Pharma (Nasdaq:MTP) purchased an anti-nausea drug from Galena Biopharma Inc. (Nasdaq:GALE); Perrigo Co.’s (NYSE: PRGO) acquisition of generic forms of Retin-A, used to treat acne, from Matawan Pharmaceuticals LLC; and Cathay Capital Private Equity’s backing of French pharmaceutical manufacturer Cenexi Group. Goldman Sachs & Co. (NYSE: GS) and Baker McKenzie are advising Valeant.