Having acquired Alcon for an eye-watering $52bn seven years ago, the Swiss major has decided that spinning off the eyecare business which has finally returned to growth (but is worth about half what Novartis paid in 2011) makes the most sense as it becomes a company even more focused on pharma.
Hot on the heels of divesting its stake in the GlaxoSmithKline PLC consumer joint venture, Novartis AG is to spin off its eye care unit Alcon and focus on becoming "a leading medicines company," in the words of CEO Vas Narasimhan.
The Swiss major has completed a strategic review that examined all options for Alcon ranging from retention, sale or spin-off and has now plumped for the latter
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