Novartis Brings Alcon Into The Fold

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) shareholders should not begrudge the fact that their management team was willing to put the screws to Alcon's (NYSE:ACL) minority shareholders in the hopes of finishing up the acquisition of this significant eye-care franchise at as low a price as possible. That said, Novartis should also be applauded for seeing reason and finally deciding to offer a fair deal to those Alcon shareholders. Shareholders of companies like Lilly (NYSE:LLY), Bristol Myers (NYSE:BMY) and Sanofi-aventis (NYSE:SNY) might wonder why their management teams are not being similarly aggressive.

The (Successful) End of the Deal
Whether it was a desire to simply finish the deal or the prospect of fighting the Alcon board in court (essentially paying to fight itself, as Novartis already controlled about 77% of the stock), Novartis abandoned its attempt to jerk around the minority shareholders and offer a fair price. To that end, Novartis announced an agreement whereby it will acquire the rest of Alcon for $168 per share. Novartis intends to do the deal with stock, but will supplement it with cash as needed to maintain the deal value. Simultaneously, the company will restart its multi-billion dollar buyback program to neutralize the impact of these extra shares.

Please click below for the full piece:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2010/Novartis-Brings-Alcon-Into-The-Fold-ACL-NVS-AGN-ISTA-LLY-SNY-BMY1216.aspx