Sanofi Abbott Laboratories and Johnson & Johnson are interested in acquiring Bausch & Lomb Incorporated from Warburg Pincus LLC, said people with knowledge of the matter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has been hired by Warburg to handle sale. Warburg is giving interested parties access to its financial data and seeking first-round bids by the end of January 2013, said the people, who asked not to be named because the process is private.

Warburg is seeking at least $10 billion from the sale, these people said. One of the people also said Goldman Sachs has contacted some prospective bidders before Christmas with information about Bausch. Abbott has hired Morgan Stanley to consider a purchase, said two of the people.

Sanofi, on the other hand, has hired Evercore Partners Inc., said another person. Other parties considering bids and receiving confidential financial information on Bausch include Merck & Co. Inc. and Pfizer Inc., said three of the people.

Warburg expects Abbott to buy the whole company and swallow the smaller parts it isn't interested in or sell those off later, said one person. Bloomberg added that representatives at Bausch & Lomb, Warburg, Goldman Sachs, Abbott, Sanofi, Johnson & Johnson, Evercore and Morgan Stanley declined to comment on the process. Also the representatives at Merck and Pfizer declined to comment.