Healthcare Industry News: intraocular lens
News Release - July 24, 2007
Advanced Medical Optics Comments on Bausch & Lomb's Letter
SANTA ANA, Calif.--(HSMN NewsFeed)--Advanced Medical Optics, Inc. (AMO) (NYSE:EYE ), a global leader in ophthalmic surgical devices and eye care products, today issued the following statement in response to the letter sent to AMO today by the Special Committee of the Board of Directors and the Board of Directors of Bausch & Lomb (B&L) (NYSE: BOL )."We continue to believe in the strategic and financial rationale for this combination and are confident in our ability to consummate the transaction. We reaffirm our $75 per share offer, which we believe fully and fairly values B&L. It is clearly superior and would deliver more value to B&L shareholders than the current $65 per share merger agreement with Warburg Pincus. AMO's proposed transaction would also allow both companies' shareholders to share in the upside potential of a combination that we believe will deliver significant cost-saving opportunities. We are evaluating B&L's letter and will respond to it in due course."
About Advanced Medical Optics (AMO)
AMO develops advanced, life-improving vision technologies for people of all ages. Products in the cataract/implant line include intraocular lenses (IOLs), phacoemulsification systems, viscoelastics, and related products used in ocular surgery. AMO owns or has the rights to such product brands as ReZoom®, Tecnis®, Clariflex®, Sensar®, and Verisyse® IOLs, Sovereign®, Sovereign® Compact and WhiteStar Signature(TM) phacoemulsification systems with WhiteStar® technology, Healon® viscoelastics, and the Baerveldt® glaucoma shunt. Products in the laser vision correction line include wavefront diagnostic devices, femtosecond lasers and associated patient interface devices, and excimer laser vision correction systems and treatment cards. AMO brands in the laser vision correction business include Star S4 IR®, WaveScan Wavefront®, CustomVue®, IntraLase® FS, IntraLase Method(TM) and IntraLasik®. Products in the contact lens care line include disinfecting solutions, enzymatic cleaners and lens rewetting drops. Among the eye care product brands the company possesses are COMPLETE®, COMPLETE® Blink-N-Clean®, Consept®F, Consept® 1 Step, Oxysept® 1 Step, UltraCare®, Ultrazyme®, Total Care(TM) and blink(TM) branded products. AMO is based in Santa Ana, California, and employs approximately 4,200 worldwide. The company has operations in 24 countries and markets products in approximately 60 countries. For more information, visit the company's Website at www.amo-inc.com.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
All statements in this press release regarding AMO's bid to acquire B&L, and any other statements that refer to AMO's plans or estimated future results are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this document include statements about future financial and operating results and the potential transaction. These statements are not guarantees of future performance, involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict, and are based upon assumptions as to future events that may not prove accurate. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed herein. For example, AMO may decide not to pursue the transaction. In addition, if an agreement is reached with B&L, and the appropriate shareholder and regulatory approvals are not received, or either of the companies fails to satisfy other conditions to closing, the transaction will not be consummated. In any forward-looking statement in which AMO expresses an expectation or belief as to future results, such expectation or belief is expressed in good faith and believed to have a reasonable basis, but there can be no assurance that the statement or expectation or belief will result or be achieved or accomplished. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements: risks associated with whether the transaction will be completed and financed on acceptable terms, successfully integrating AMO and B&L, the failure to realize the synergies and other perceived advantages resulting from the transaction, costs and potential litigation associated with the transaction, the failure to obtain the necessary approvals of shareholders, the inability to obtain, or meet conditions imposed for, applicable regulatory requirements relating to the transaction, the failure of either party to meet the closing conditions set forth in the definitive agreement, the ability to retain key personnel both before and after the transaction, each company's ability to successfully execute its business strategies, unforeseen impacts of the recalls of eye care solutions, the extent and timing of regulatory approvals, and the extent and timing of market acceptance of new products or product indications, manufacturing, litigation, the procurement, maintenance, enforcement and defense of patents and proprietary rights, competitive conditions in the industry, business cycles affecting the markets in which any products may be sold, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates and interest rates, and economic conditions generally or in various geographic areas, including those set forth in AMO's Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, especially in the "Risk Factors" sections and other SEC filings. AMO is under no obligation to (and expressly disclaims any such obligation to) update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Source: Advanced Medical Optics
Issuer of this News Release is solely responsible for its
content.
Please address inquiries directly to the issuing company.
