Advanced Medical Optics Inc. of Santa Ana on Wednesday ended its $4.23 billion bid to take over rival Bausch & Lomb Inc.
In a letter to Bausch directors, Chief Executive James Mazzo said Advanced Medical was disappointed that Bausch’s board would not grant it more time to present details of its offer to shareholders, and that Bausch had no interest in providing its shareholders Advanced Medical’s cash and stock offer.
“Instead, you remain intent on delivering Bausch & Lomb to Warburg Pincus at $65 per share, a transaction that is inferior to AMO’s proposal both in terms of value and the ability for the Bausch & Lomb shareholders to participate in the significant synergies that combining AMO and Bausch & Lomb would create,” Mazzo said in his letter.
Bausch, which is based in Rochester, N.Y., has accepted a $3.67 billion all-cash go private bid from private equity firm Warburg Pincus.
Advanced Medical faced strong shareholder opposition for its Bausch bid, particularly from activist San Francisco hedge fund ValueAct Capital LP, which holds 15% of the eye care and device maker.
