Allergan spin-off
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Contact lens care, ophthalmic surgical businesses will be housed in new publicly traded company, Advanced Medical Optics, under stockholder spin-off expected to be completed by July, Allergan announces Jan. 22. Company points to divergent market growth rates, gross margin leverage, R&D intensity as reasons for separating pharma, device businesses. Since complete separation of Rx, surgical and contact lens care sales forces in 1998, it has become "more obvious that limited synergies in the office of the eye practitioner are no longer sufficient reason for these businesses to operate within one enterprise," company states. Lens care sales fell 7% to $77.4 mil. in Q4, dropped 9.6% to $297.1 mil. for 2001, "impacted by the loss in the fourth quarter of certain private-label contracts with mass merchandisers," firm says...