Alcon

Alcon is a Swiss-American pharmaceutical and medical device company specializing in eye care products. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland and has a major presence in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, where it employs about 4,500 people. Alcon was a subsidiary of Novartis until April 2019, when it was spun out into a separate publicly-traded company. Alcon itself has a number of subsidiaries including Aerie Pharmaceuticals, focused on therapies for glaucoma and other diseases of the eye, and WaveLight, which develops and manufactures laser eye surgery technologies. Alcon was founded in 1945 as a small pharmacy in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It 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. 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). 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. 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.