Alcon Completes Separation From Novartis, Begins Trading Today

(RTTNews) - Alcon Inc. (ACL), an eye care device company, announced Tuesday its debut as an independent, publicly traded company following the completion of its separation from Novartis (NVS).

The company's shares begin trading on Tuesday on the SIX Swiss Exchange and New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "ALC."

Under the terms of the separation, each Novartis shareholder or ADR holder will receive one Alcon share for every five Novartis shares or ADRs they held as of the close of business on April 1, 2019, the record date for the distribution.

As an independent company, Alcon said it will have more focus and flexibility in pursuing its own growth strategy driven by rapid iterative innovation.

Alcon is the largest eye care device company in the world, with complementary businesses in Surgical and Vision Care. It has a global presence in 74 countries and serves patients in more than 140.

The company noted that eye care is an approximately $23 billion a year market, growing at roughly 4 percent annually. Last year, Alcon had sales of $7.1 billion, including $4.0 billion in Surgical, up 7 percent from the prior year, and $3.1 billion in Vision Care, up 3 percent.

Alcon is headquartered in Geneva. The company has maintained a presence in Switzerland for more than 40 years and it is where the company was incorporated prior to the Novartis acquisition. Alcon's facilities in Fort Worth, Texas, will remain a major operational center and innovation hub with a large base of employees.