Novartis confirms Alcon eye care unit spin off next month

Novartis has finalized plans for the long-awaited spin-off of its Alcon eye care business, announcing that the new company will list on April 9. The Swiss pharma has approval for listing on the SIX Swiss Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange, adding that Alcon is expected to list on Switzerland’s SMI blue-chip stock index on its first trading day. Alcon will have secured debt financing of $3.5 billion, adding that Bank of America Merrill Lynch and UBS were advising Novartis on the transaction. Each Novartis shareholder will receive one share for every five Novartis shares or American depositary receipts that they hold at the close of business on April 8. The newly listed firm expects to pay a dividend in 2020 and will focus on ‘bolt-on’ acquisitions to help boost operating margins to the mid-20% from the high-teens. Under the leadership of new CEO Vas Narasimhan, Novartis is trying to move on from strategies developed by previous CEOs, such as his immediate predecessor Joe Jimenez, and before that Daniel Vasella.