Novartis Officially Takes Control of Alcon
mardi, 31 août 2010
The deal's been done! Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis officially completed its acquisition of Alcon on Wednesday.
After months of pushing and pulling, Novartis will officially take control of Alcon after acquiring Nestlé's 52% stake in the eyecare firm. Novartis now owns 77% of Alcon's capital stock and is determined to convince the remaining shareholders to sell their shares.
The transaction between Novartis and Nestlé has been estimated at over $28 billion. Nestlé, however, said it would be banking over $40 billion in total in exchange for Alcon, which Nestlé considers a "full and fair value for its shareholders." Nestlé is currently working to reduce its debt, which rose to more than $29 billion in June.
Alcon, which employs nearly 14,500 people in 75 countries, has annual sales of more than $5.6 billion. Nestlé's chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe thanked Alcon’s and Nestlé’s successive management teams for having built such a prosperous company.
Sources: Associated Press