Novartis buys into eye care specialist
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis has finalised the purchase of a 25 per cent stake of eye care company Alcon for $10.4 billion (SFr10.64 billion) in cash from Nestlé.
The drugmaker said in a statement on Tuesday that the price was $200 million less than previously announced, due to a dividend payment.
The purchase is the first step in Novartis’ agreement to acquire a majority stake in American firm Alcon from Swiss food multinational Nestlé. The deal was announced in April.
Novartis has the right to buy – and Nestlé the right to sell – a further 52 per cent stake in Alcon, for a price of not more than $28 billion. The pharmaceutical company is already active in the eye care business with its Ciba Vision unit.
Fort Worth-based Alcon employs 14,500 people in 75 countries. After the Novartis buyout, it will remain an independent company.
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.