Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Basel-based healthcare products Novartis has agreed to buy out the majority shareholding in Alcon, eyecare specialists, from Vevey-based Nestlé, for CHF28.1 billion. Novartis paid $10.4 in 2008 for a 25 percent share and it has offered to buy the remaining 23 percent share for an additional $11.2b, bringing the total price for the company to CHF49.7b. The news was greeted with enthusiasm by markets, reports the Financial Times, with a 0.4 percent jump in the FTSE at opening Monday, normally a dismal post-holiday trading session.
Business Week reports that the sale leaves Nestlé in good shape for a major acquisition.
Google has sealed a deal to pay $750 million for AdMob, a mobile phone advertising company, in an all-stock deal that puts the search giant’s money on the future of mobile ads. The privately held AdMob’s revenues are estimated at $45-60 million, according to an analyst cited by Reuters.
Thomson Reuters reports from its data that mergers and acquisitions were down 35% in 2008 but, in bad news for investment bankers, the number of deals withdrawn rose to a record high of 1,100, up from 800 in 2007. The value of those lost deals was $800 billion – representing $815 million in bankers’ fees.
