Goldman Sachs is sole adviser and co-investor in a three-firm private equity consortium preparing to make a £1.5bn (€2.2bn) cash bid for Warner Chilcott, the Northern Irish pharmaceuticals firm once known as Galen Holdings.

Warner Chilcott, which confirmed on Thursday that it was evaluating a cash bid worth 800p, has called in Greenhill, the independent investment bank, alongside ABN Amro Hoare Govett, Warner's corporate broker.