The Motley Fool: Cooper Leveraging Share Gains For Eye Opening Growth

Cooper (NYSE: COO  ) , or more formally "The Cooper Companies" is a sort of odd duck in the med-tech world. It's fairly well-respected by eye care rivals like Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ  ) and Novartis (NYSE: NVS  ) ; it has done well in the market (up more than 280% over five years and about 55% over the past 12 months); and it's well-followed and well-owned on the Street.
Even so, it doesn't generate much pizzazz with individual investors, and there's not much coverage of it out there. Some of that may be due to valuation -- as Cooper rarely trades at a multiple I'd call cheap -- but this is a story likely to feature strong market share gains and meaningful margin/free cash flow leverage, and those tend to be the stocks that outperform.

Please read more of this article at The Motley Fool:
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/09/06/cooper-leveraging-share-gains-for-eye-opening-grow.aspx

MassDevice: Is Valeant About To Make A Bold Bid For Bausch & Lomb?

Never let it be said that Valeant (NYSE: VRX) management is shy about doing deals. With a roster of past deals including Biovail, Cephalon, OraPharma, and Medicis, Valeant claims that better than 80% of its deals have attained the 20% internal return target it uses to evaluate potential transactions. If rumors out Friday prove true, Valeant is about to bag its biggest target yet in what would be a particularly bold move.

Multiple sources have reported (or repeated) rumors that Bausch + Lomb's private equity owners Warburg Pincus are near a deal to sell the eye care giant to Valeant in a deal worth close to $9 billion. That Bausch & Lomb is on the block is well known – Warburg Pincus hired Goldman Sachs back in December of 2012 to assist them, and reportedly approached companies including Sanofi (NYSE:SNY), GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK), and Abbott (NYSE:ABT) without getting any takers on the then-reported price tag of $10 billion. At that point, Warburg Pincus reportedly began considering an IPO of Bausch & Lomb to cash out of a company it originally acquired for $4.5 billion.

Please read more here:
http://www.massdevice.com/blogs/massdevice/valeant-about-make-bold-bid-bausch-lomb

Seeking Alpha: Is Bausch & Lomb The Next Multibillion-Dollar Deal?

Could another major med-tech M&A transaction be on the way?

Rumors are now in flight that large private equity group Warburg Pincus is ready to sell its large eye care business Bausch & Lomb. While recent reports suggest that Warburg would prefer an outright sale at this point, it sounds like an IPO could be in the works as a back-up plan. But the larger question for investors is whether there are any motivated bidders out there likely to meet Warburg's price target.

Please read more here:
Is Bausch & Lomb The Next Multibillion-Dollar Deal?

Seeking Alpha: Keep A Close Eye On Cooper's Improvements

Cooper Companies (COO) (or, more formerly "The Cooper Companies") has done a fine job over the past few years of making up for lost time. While the company had to play catch up in the silicone hydrogel contact lens market, it is once again growing its market share and expanding its margins. Although the valuation today on these shares does not look all that compelling, investors shouldn't ignore the potential for further multiple expansion tied to ongoing share growth and margin expansion - two things that med-tech investors prize greatly.

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Keep A Close Eye On Cooper's Improvements

Seeking Alpha: ISTA Pharmaceuticals Gets The Bid It Wants

I have to give credit where credit is due - ISTA Pharmaceuticals (ISTA) management stuck to its guns, remained patient, and ultimately got a much better deal for shareholders. With a solid deal in hand from Bausch & Lomb, ISTA management has given shareholders a pretty happy ending.

A Little Bit Of History Repeated
ISTA Pharmaceuticals has given shareholders a rollercoaster ride over the past couple of years. Shares rocketed up from mid-2010 to early 2011, only to erode again on fears of generic competition for Bromday. When Remura failed its clinical trials for treating dry eye (around August of 2011), the stock lost about half of its value and stayed in the dumps for most of the year as institutional investors fled a story with few near-term catalysts.

Please read more here:
ISTA Pharmaceuticals Gets The Bid It Wants

Cooper: A Growing Play On Eye Care

For investors who want to play any trends in eye health, pure plays are few and far between. Most are either small divisions of huge companies (Novartis' (NYSE:NVS) Ciba Vision), private (Bausch & Lomb), very small (ISTA Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:ISTA)), or not really involved in the medical side (Luxottica (NYSE:LUX)). That makes Cooper Companies (NYSE:COO) a pretty rare company, and the fact that it grows is a cherry on top of the sundae. 

A Strong End to the Year
Cooper posted a solid finish to its 2010 fiscal year. Revenue rose 11% to $313 million, surpassing the high end of what was a surprisingly tight range of estimates. The company's vision business (which is about 85% of the total) saw revenue growth of 10%, fueled at least in part by 88% growth in silicon hydrogel lenses. Its other business, surgical tools for the ob/gyn market, saw 14% reported growth.

Cooper also did a fine job with respect to generating profits. Gross margin improved nearly four full points, while operating profits jumped 56% from the year-ago period. Profitability was definitely helped by the surgical business, where segment gross profits jumped about 12 points from the year-ago period and the operating margin was well above the corporate average (28% vs. 21.4%). 


Please click the link below for the full piece:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2010/Cooper-A-Growing-Play-On-Eye-Care-COO-ISTA-NVS-LUX-HOLX1210.aspx