May 31, 2013—Under a crushing mountain of $4.2 billion in debt, global eye health company Baush + Lomb Holdings (Rochester, N.Y., U.S.A.) announced on May 27 the sale of the company to Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (Laval, Québec, Canada) for US$8.7 billion. The board of directors of both companies unanimously approved the agreement, which will be funded by a finance deal through Goldman Sachs bank (U.S.A.). Valeant will pay $8.7 billion in cash, $4.5 billion of which an investor group led by Warburg Pincus will receive, and $4.2 billion of which will go towards Bauch + Lomb’s outstanding debt. Valeant hopes to achieve more than $800 million in yearly cost savings by year-end 2014.
Bausch + Lomb will become a division of Valeant but will retain its name. Valenant’s ophthalmology business will be incorporated into the Baush + Lomb division. The combined estimated pro forma 2013 net revenue of the combined division will be more than $3.4 billion.