BLOG: Bausch + Lomb is in play: Brent Saunders seeks independence for B+L
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Key takeaways:
- Bausch + Lomb is reportedly seeking a complete separation from Bausch Health.
- This would allow Bausch + Lomb to make deals with smaller companies that have interesting products.
Brenting: v. To make bold and audacious deals in the eye care space.
Brent Saunders, current Bausch + Lomb CEO and prior engineer of the $63 billion sale of Allergan to AbbVie, is seeking the complete separation of B+L from “former” parent company Bausch Health. Those quotation marks are there because Bausch Health still owns 88% of B+L after “spinning off” the eye care assets of the company this past January. Bausch is saddled with some $21 billion in debt to investors such as Apollo Capital and Elliott Capital, among others. This debt load has weighed on Saunders’ ability to make deals in order to grow B+L.
News of the potential deal to take B+L private buzzed through the convention halls at the recent American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting in Chicago. While there are other groups making bids, reports in Financial Times and others are saying that the mega-fund companies Blackstone and TPG are the most likely candidates to seal a deal. If it goes through as reported, the deal will value B+L as an independent company worth somewhere in the $14 billion range, or roughly $25 per share. Possible speed bumps remaining include securing the approval of major Bausch Health shareholders such as Carl Icahn and John Paulson.
Why should any of this matter to us? Freedom from the debt load of Bausch Health should allow Brent Saunders to do what he does best: make deals. If you’ve been paying any attention to B+L ,you have to have noticed that Saunders has built upon the strong operational team already present, adding key leaders in pharma, surgical and the core vision care divisions. There are some really interesting smaller companies out there that could use the financial and operational prowess of an emancipated B+L to bring their products into our offices and operating rooms.
Will it happen? Heck if I know. What I do know, and what I have oft stated here and elsewhere, is that our professional world has historically functioned best, provided us and our patients with a steady stream of innovations that have helped us prevent blindness and improve vision, when we have a strong and healthy B+L and Allergan and at least one of the remaining major companies (Alcon, Johnson & Johnson Vision and Zeiss) strong enough to form a triumvirate. This deal, or something like it, stands to put the last of the dark ages of Valeant behind B+L, cementing Brent Saunders as the “most interesting man in eye care.”
And letting your loyal scribe do silly stuff like make up new verbs to describe dealmaking.
*All information above is freely available in the public domain.
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