Sanofi (NYSE:SNY) has decided to keep its Cepia chemical unit, a spokesperson for the company said on Friday.

The Cepia division, which deals with what Sanofi calls ‘third party activities’ such as the supply and production of active pharmaceutical ingredients, was previously being considered for sale in a deal that could have been worth up to $1.1 billion (EU €1 billion).

“I can confirm we have decided to keep the division within the company,” she said, adding that a recent improvement in Cepia’s results, as well as a better outlook for it, was behind this choice.

Bankers and buyout firms had been preparing funds for a potential sale of the division after information packages were sent to potential bidders last month.

Late last month, Sanofi saw shares rise after the company beat expectations on Wall Street with its 1st quarter results.

The French company posted profits of $5.7 billion on sales of $8.65 billion for the 3 months ended March 31, for bottom-line growth of 413.5% on sales growth of 11.2% compared with the same period last year. Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were $1.55, ahead of consensus on The Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $8.40 billion.

Material from Reuters was used in this report