Novartis: No Changes To Nestle Agreement On Alcon Planned
23 Avril 2009 - 3:35PM
Dow Jones News
Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG (NVS) doesn't plan any changes to
its agreement with Nestle SA (NESN.VX) on eye-care company Alcon
Inc. (ACL), management said during a conference call Thursday,
detailing the company's first-quarter results.
Novartis is in the process of buying Alcon from Nestle for a
total of $39 billion. The deal is expected to be concluded by 2010
or 2011.
In a first step, Basel-based Novartis paid Nestle $10.4 billion
for a 25% stake in Alcon in July 2008.
Nestle now has the right to sell its remaining 52% stake in
Alcon between January 2010 and July 2011 to Novartis at a 20%
premium of the average share price during the week before the sale,
not exceeding $181 a share, or $28 billion.
Nestle has the right to require Novartis to buy this stake,
though there is a walkaway clause in the case of unexpected events
such as a major product recall.
Company Web Site: www.novartis.com; www.nestle.com
-By Julia Mengewein, Dow Jones Newswires; +41 43 443 80 45;
julia.mengewein@dowjones.com