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January 5, 2010
Always Read the Fine Print
Posted by Derek
. . .especially when you're dealing with the Swiss. You'll have probably seen that Novartis is buying Alcon. But what price they're buying them at depends on who you are.
As the Wall Street Journal reports, Novartis, who already had 25% of Alcon's stock, is paying majority shareholder Nestlé $180/share for their 52% stake in the company. Minority shareholders - that is, all the rest of them - are being offered $153. Some of these folks have paid up over $160/share recently, anticipating such a deal, but under Swiss law, there's not a thing that they can do about it. . .
Comments (6)
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1. TexMex on January 5, 2010 2:53 PM writes...
I wondered if anyone knows how many people will be let go as a result of this. How much of the research will be outsourced? Any Rumours?
Permalink to Comment2. Sili on January 5, 2010 3:12 PM writes...
Is this just a matter of Swiss law? What makes this deal illegal elsewhere?
Aren't we all free to buy and sell what we want/have at our own price?
Permalink to Comment3. Palo on January 5, 2010 3:55 PM writes...
Paying a premium for majority control of Alcon makes sense. And with that acquisition Novartis has more than 75% of the company... why would they offer the other shareholders more than the stock was valued at a month ago? (And why do we need to start mistrusting the swiss?)
Permalink to Comment4. Lucifer on January 6, 2010 1:33 AM writes...
Ok.. here is my much-delayed blog. Any suggestions on topics and directions are welcome.
http://pharmaheretic.wordpress.com/
I already have a popular and much more politically incorrect blog + science is more than skewering imbeciles. Therefore I will post once or twice a week, instead of everyday like at my other blog.
Permalink to Comment5. Hap on January 6, 2010 10:14 AM writes...
You can offer me $153 for my stock, but in most places I can tell you where (in which orifice) to place your offer. Are the minority stockholders required to sell, because if not, I'm pretty sure I know how much of my stock they'd be getting at that price (well, if I actually had any). The only other question would be whether you think the company will get worse, in which case, $153 is better than $90, or $0.
Permalink to Comment6. canuck on January 8, 2010 2:47 PM writes...
this explains it some more....
Permalink to Commenthttp://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/06/the-alcon-independent-directors-dilemma