08/30/2010 0 Comments

HUENENBERG, Switzerland—In the wake of last week’s acquisition by Novartis (NYSE: NVS) of Nestle’s remaining shares in Alcon (NYSE: ACL), the committee representing Alcon’s remaining independent shareholders of Alcon said the transaction’s closing does not impact its position.

In a statement following the Aug. 26 completion of the $28.3 billion Novartis/Nestle deal—which took Novartis’ stake in Alcon up to about 77 percent, as reported in VMail that day—the Alcon Independent Director Committee (IDC) described the closing as “an expected step [that] does not impact the IDC’s position with respect to Novartis’ merger proposal to minority shareholders.

Said Thomas Plaskett, the IDC’s chairman, “We look forward to negotiating a deal that affords fair value to Alcon’s minority shareholders.”

Plaskett added, “An agreed transaction is in the best interests of stakeholders and is clearly preferable to protracted litigation, which would delay critical steps in the integration process. However, we are ready to defend the rights of Alcon and its minority shareholders if Novartis refuses to negotiate a fair deal.”

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