Alcon is an American Swiss medical company specializing in eye care products

with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and incorporated in Fribourg,

Switzerland. Alcon began as a US company and its US subsidiary’s
headquarters remain in Fort Worth, Texas, where the Alcon division of the
company was founded.
Alcon was a subsidiary of Novartis until April 9, 2019, when the company
completed a shareholder approved 100% spinoff of Alcon eye care devices
business from Novartis.[3][4]

History[edit]
The US division of Alcon was founded as an independent company in 1945
in Fort Worth, Texas, USA.[5] Since the current Swiss company that grew from
multiple mergers retained the Alcon name, it is important to differentiate the
former US company (now a subsidiary) from the much larger company that
bears the same Alcon name. Alcon has not existed as a US-based company
since 1977.
The original US company Alcon started as a small pharmacy in Fort Worth and
was named for its founders, pharmacists Robert Alexander and William Conner.
Conner and Alexander focused on sterile ophthalmic products.
Nestlé of Switzerland purchased Alcon in 1977.[6] Alcon expanded its
manufacturing capability with new plants in South America and Europe and
drastically increased its investment in research.
In 1979, Alcon acquired Texas Pharmacal Company which became
Dermatological Products of Texas (and is now DPT Laboratories).[7]
In 1984, Alcon founded the Technical Excellence Award to promote
achievements in R&D excellence and has awarded it to more than 100
recipients. The Alcon product line has expanded from pharmaceuticals to the
surgical arena. Today, Alcon has operations in 75 countries and its products are
sold in over 180 countries.
Nestlé conducted an initial public offering of 25% of its stake in Alcon in 2002.
The stock is traded under the ticker symbol ALC. In July 2008, Novartis
purchased approximately 25% of Nestlé's stake in Alcon, with an option to buy
Nestlé's remaining shares beginning in 2010.[8] Novartis bought 52% stake from
Nestlé for $28.1 Billion. This deal brought the total ownership of Alcon by
Novartis to 77%. Beginning January 2010 Novartis formally announced it will be
completing the exercise options for finishing purchasing the rest of Alcon and
then promptly continue to exercise merger and takeover of Alcon.[9]
On March 29, 2010, Alcon acquired Durezol and Zyclorin from Sirion
Therapeutics. Alcon received regulatory approval to acquire the rights of
Durezol emulsion in the US and the global rights, excluding Latin America, for
Zyclorin from Sirion Therapeutics.[10]
On June 28, 2010, Alcon's Independent Director Committee announced that a
recommendation by the committee was an indispensable first step before the
board of the company can decide on the merger proposal of Novartis AG,
refuted Novartis’ public implications that it would be able to unilaterally impose
the merger irrespective of the Independent Director Committee's position once
Novartis became Alcon's majority shareholder. On July 8, 2010, Alcon's
independent director committee (IDC) had set up a $50 million litigation trust to
ensure company's minority shareholders get the best deal from bidder Novartis
AG.[11]
On April 9, 2019, Alcon completed a 100% spin-off from Novartis.[4][12][13] The new
standalone company is worth up to 28 billion Swiss francs.[14]
In November 2021, Alcon announced it would acquire Ivantis and
their glaucoma surgery stent technology for at least $475 million.[15] In August
2022, Alcon agreed to buy Aerie Pharmaceuticals for US$770 million to
enhance its ophthalmic pharmaceutical portfolio.[16]

References[edit]
1. ^ "Contact Us". Alcon. Novartis.
Retrieved December 5, 2018.
2. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f "Alcon Inc. 2021 Annual
Report (Form 20-F)". SEC.gov. U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission. 2022-02-15.
3. ^ "Novartis announces intention to seek
shareholder approval for 100% spinoff of Alcon eye
care devices business". Alcon.
4. ^ Jump up to:a b Smith, Anna (2019-04-
10). "Novartis continues to 'reimagine' itself, as
Alcon spin-off completed". PharmaTimes.
Retrieved 2019-04-10.
5. ^ "Improving Vision through Innovation Since
1945".
6. ^ Nicholson, Chris (4 January 2010). "Novartis to
Buy Majority of Alcon From Nestlé". The New York
Times. Archived from the original on 6 January
2014.
7. ^ Taylor, Lisa (28 July 2002). "Permeating a
market". San Antonio Business Journal.
8. ^ "Reuters - Novartis announces offer to buy
Nestlé's shares in Alcon".[dead link]
9. ^ "Novartis announces intention to seek
shareholder approval for 100% spinoff of Alcon eye
care devices business". Scribd.
10. ^ "Alcon Completes Acquisition of Durezol™ and
Zyclorin™ from Sirion". Business Wire. March 29,
2010. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
11. ^ "Alcon (ACL) Sets up trust for litigation between
with Novartis to protect minorities". The Chief
Executive Forum. Archived from the original on
2010-07-10.
12. ^ "Alcon tops $28 billion market cap in decade's
biggest Swiss stock deal". Reuters. 2019-04-09.
Retrieved 2019-04-10.
13. ^ "Novartis completes Alcon spin-
off". www.healio.com. April 9, 2019.
Retrieved 2020-02-25.
14. ^ Smith, Anna (2019-04-10). "Novartis continues to
'reimagine' itself, as Alcon spin-off
completed". PharmaTimes. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
 15. ^ "Alcon agrees $475 million deal to buy U.S. eye
surgery company Ivantis | Reuters". Reuters. 8
November 2021.
16. ^ "Alcon buys the American Aerie Pharmaceuticals
for 770 million". Swissinfo (in French). 23 August
2022.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alcon.

• Business data for Alcon:

o Bloomberg
o Google
o Reuters
o SEC filings
o Yahoo!
• Alcon Official Website
• Alcon : Novartis exercises option and
proposes merger
• Novartis needs Alcon directors' OK for
buyout
• Swiss Corporate Governance Expert
Supports Alcon Independent Director
Committee’s Position against Novartis[dead link]

show

Swiss Market Index companies of Switzerland

show

Swiss Leader Index companies of Switzerland

show

Pharmaceutical companies of the United States

show
 Nestlé

• VIAF

o 1

• WorldCat
Categories:
• Alcon
• Pharmaceutical companies established in 1945
• Companies based in Fort Worth, Texas
• Pharmaceutical companies of Switzerland
• Multinational companies
• Contact lenses
• Pharmaceutical companies of the United States
• Companies listed on the New York Stock
Exchange
• Companies listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange
• Life sciences industry
• Health care companies based in Texas
• Eyewear companies of the United States
• Novartis
• 2010 mergers and acquisitions
• 2002 initial public offerings
Navigation menu
• Not logged in
• Talk
• Contributions
• Create account
• Log in
• Article
• Talk
• Read
• Edit
• View history

Search Go

• Main page
• Contents
• Current events
• Random article
• About Wikipedia
 • Contact us
• Donate
Contribute
• Help
• Learn to edit
• Community portal
• Recent changes
• Upload file
Tools
• What links here
• Related changes
• Special pages
• Permanent link
• Page information
• Cite this page
• Wikidata item
Print/export
• Download as PDF
• Printable version
In other projects
• Wikimedia Commons
Languages
• Deutsch
• Français
• Bahasa Indonesia
• Bahasa Melayu
• 日本語
• Português
• Русский
• தமிழ்
• 中文
8 more
Edit links
• This page was last edited on 24 August 2022, at 04:43 (UTC).
• Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0; additional terms may
apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered
trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.