Alcon acquires Aerie Pharmaceuticals for $770 million
Alcon goes on a shopping spree. The Geneva-based ophthalmology group is buying the US company Aerie Pharmaceuticals for a price of 15.25 US dollars per share, as announced on Tuesday night. That equates to a premium of 37 percent over the most recent closing price and a total value of $770 million.
Aerie Pharmaceuticals specializes in the research, development, manufacture and marketing of ophthalmic therapies. Aerie’s current financial guidance for 2022 net sales of Green Star products is $130-$140 million.
The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2022, subject to Aerie shareholder approval and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Alcon will fund the acquisition through short-term and long-term debt and expects the transaction to be accretive to core (diluted) earnings per share (EPS) when announced in 2024.
The transaction reinforces Alcon’s commitment to the eye care space and will complement existing commercial know-how with broader pharmaceutical research and development capabilities. It should also further maximize the value of the already diversified portfolio.
Specifically, the acquisition gives Alcon the commercial products Rocklatan and Rhopressa, as well as AR-15512, a phase 3 product candidate for the treatment of dry eye. According to Alcon, Aerie also has several clinical and pre-clinical ophthalmic pharmaceutical product candidates in its pipeline.
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