Advanced Medical Optics Inc offered to buy eye-care products rival Bausch & Lomb Inc for $4.23 billion in cash and stock, topping a $3.67 billion cash bid by a private equity firm.
The Santa Ana, California-based company put in a $75-a-share offer of $45 in cash and $30 in AMO stock for each Bausch & Lomb share.
Bausch & Lomb said its board determined that the offer "is bona fide and is reasonably likely to result in a superior proposal." It said it planned "to engage in further discussions" but cautioned that "there can be no assurances as to whether the AMO proposal will ultimately result in a transaction."
Warburg Pincus, a buyout and venture capital firm in New York, won an agreement from Bausch & Lomb's board in mid-May to pay $65 a share for the 154-year-old maker of contact lenses, ophthalmic drugs and vision-correction surgical instruments.
The new offer came on the final day of a 50-day period that Bausch & Lomb set aside for other buyers to make a better bid. Under the deal with Warburg Pincus, Bausch & Lomb can solicit superior proposals until midnight Thursday but would have to pay a $40 million breakup fee if it accepts any other offer.
"I thought $65 was a fair offer and so $75 obviously trumps that," said analyst Jeff Johnson of Robert W Baird & Co in Milwaukee. "The go-shop provision is not over until 11:59 pm. Theoretically, there could be other offers as well, and also Warburg, I'm sure, would have a chance to come back to the table if they'd want to." Bausch & Lomb shares rose $3.36, or 4.9%, to $72 on Thursday. Advanced Medical Optics shares rose 42 cents, or 1.2%, to $35.89.
AMO chairman and CEO Jim Mazzo said the bid is strategically and financially superior to Bausch & Lomb's existing deal with Warburg Pincus. "AMO and B&L businesses complement each other and together would provide increased scale, scope and enhanced ability to generate productivity and efficiency improvements," he said.
Advanced Medical Optics first disclosed its interest in acquiring Bausch & Lomb on May 24. The next day, it voluntarily recalled its leading contact lens care product after a federal investigation linked it to a rare eye infection.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/..._bid_for_Bausch__Lomb/articleshow/2183467.cms
The Santa Ana, California-based company put in a $75-a-share offer of $45 in cash and $30 in AMO stock for each Bausch & Lomb share.
Bausch & Lomb said its board determined that the offer "is bona fide and is reasonably likely to result in a superior proposal." It said it planned "to engage in further discussions" but cautioned that "there can be no assurances as to whether the AMO proposal will ultimately result in a transaction."
Warburg Pincus, a buyout and venture capital firm in New York, won an agreement from Bausch & Lomb's board in mid-May to pay $65 a share for the 154-year-old maker of contact lenses, ophthalmic drugs and vision-correction surgical instruments.
The new offer came on the final day of a 50-day period that Bausch & Lomb set aside for other buyers to make a better bid. Under the deal with Warburg Pincus, Bausch & Lomb can solicit superior proposals until midnight Thursday but would have to pay a $40 million breakup fee if it accepts any other offer.
"I thought $65 was a fair offer and so $75 obviously trumps that," said analyst Jeff Johnson of Robert W Baird & Co in Milwaukee. "The go-shop provision is not over until 11:59 pm. Theoretically, there could be other offers as well, and also Warburg, I'm sure, would have a chance to come back to the table if they'd want to." Bausch & Lomb shares rose $3.36, or 4.9%, to $72 on Thursday. Advanced Medical Optics shares rose 42 cents, or 1.2%, to $35.89.
AMO chairman and CEO Jim Mazzo said the bid is strategically and financially superior to Bausch & Lomb's existing deal with Warburg Pincus. "AMO and B&L businesses complement each other and together would provide increased scale, scope and enhanced ability to generate productivity and efficiency improvements," he said.
Advanced Medical Optics first disclosed its interest in acquiring Bausch & Lomb on May 24. The next day, it voluntarily recalled its leading contact lens care product after a federal investigation linked it to a rare eye infection.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/..._bid_for_Bausch__Lomb/articleshow/2183467.cms