Anglo-Swedish drug company AstraZeneca is in final talks to sell its Swedish healthcare and dental business Astra Tech to Dentsply International in a deal that could value the group at about $1.8 billion, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

The FT said the U.S. dental equipment maker outbid other potential buyers, including private equity group EQT Partners and medical company Biomet, and had been granted exclusivity in the negotiations, citing people familiar with the situation.

A deal to buy the world's third-biggest dental implant maker could be announced as early as this week, although talks could still fail, the FT said.

AstraZeneca Chief Executive David Brennan told Reuters at the weekend that attempts to sell Astra Tech were ongoing, but would not be drawn on a timetable.

"We've been working through a process. We had bidders come in. People want to do due diligence .. it shouldn't drag on forever," he said.
AstraZeneca hopes the unit will fetch $2 billion.

The paper reported AstraZeneca as saying a decision on Astra Tech was imminent, but it declined to comment further and that Dentsply did not return calls.