Allergan acquires Pilkington Barnes Hind lens care business.
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
ALLERGAN ACQUISITION OF PILKINGTON BARNES HIND LENS CARE BUSINESS effectively doubles the company's annual lens care revenues in Japan to about $70 mil. Allergan announced Nov. 28 that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the worldwide contact lens care business of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Pilkington Barnes Hind.
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ALLERGAN ACQUISITION OF PILKINGTON BARNES HIND LENS CARE BUSINESS effectively doubles the company's annual lens care revenues in Japan to about $70 mil. Allergan announced Nov. 28 that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the worldwide contact lens care business of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Pilkington Barnes Hind. "This is a strategic geographic acquisition that provides critical mass to our contact lens care business in Japan," Allergan explained. The company noted that about 70% of Pilkington Barnes Hind's revenues are in Japan. PBH's worldwide annual sales are about $48 mil. Although the purchase price was not disclosed, Pilkington reported separately that it received a total cash consideration of $77 mil. for the sale of the lens care business to Allergan and from another recent deal to sell Paragon Vision Sciences' Rigid Gas Permeable (RGP) lens business to a management group. In announcing the acquisition, Allergan highlighted the addition of Consept F, a peroxide cold chemical disinfectant for soft contact lenses. Consept F is currently the only approved non-heat disinfection system for soft lenses in Japan. Allergan predicted that the trend in Japan away from RGP contact lenses and toward soft contact lenses will continue. The company estimated that less than 40% of the approximately 9 mil. contact lens wearers in Japan currently use soft lenses. In addition, Allergan pointed out that Japanese consumers increasingly are using cold chemical disinfectants instead of heat disinfection systems. The purchase also includes Barnes-Hind and ComfortCare RGP lenscare solutions as well as Pilkington Barnes Hind's lens care manufacturing facilities in Phoenix, Ariz., which employs approximately 125 workers. In recent months, Allergan has taken several steps to beef up its presence in Asia. In August, the company purchased 100% control of the joint venture company Santen-Allergan, which was established in 1974 to produce, import, and sell lens care products in Japan. Before buying Santen Pharmaceutical's share, Allergan owned 50% of the joint venture company. The company also signed an agreement with Formosa Optical Company Ltd. during the summer to promote Allergan contact lens care products in Taiwan and China. PBH said the disposal of the lenscare business along with the company's recent divestiture of its RGP button business will allow it "to pursue even more vigorously our efforts to build our contact lens business with innovative, value-added products." Pilkington Barnes Hind announced late last year that it was looking to sell Paragon Vision Sciences. The sale of Paragon Vision Sciences RGP division to current management and an investor group, Summit Partners, was completed in late October. Pilkington estimated Paragon's annual sales at about $10 mil. |