April 22 (Reuters) - Eli Lilly and Co said on Tuesday it will buy Novartis AG's animal health business for $5.4 billion in cash to strengthen and diversify its Elanco unit.
Lilly said it plans to fund the deal with about $3.4 billion of cash on hand and borrow $2 billion. The company did not disclose any other financial terms of the deal.
"Animal health continues to represent an attractive growth opportunity for Lilly. We intend to keep Elanco and to take advantage of the substantial synergies between our animal health and human health businesses," Lilly's Chief Executive John Lechleiter said.
Eli Lilly said the transaction will add to its profit on a cash basis from 2016, excluding integration costs.
(Reporting by Arnab Sen in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)