James Mazzo, an old hand at buying companies, now is learning what it? like to be on the other side of the fence.
?e were always the acquirer, integrating a company into AMO, and now, obviously, we?e been acquired,?said Mazzo, president of what? now Santa Ana-based Abbott Medical Optics Inc.
Abbott Medical Optics came about when Abbott Laboratories of Chicago bought Advanced Medical Optics Inc. in February for $2.8 billion to get into the $22 billion yearly eye care market.
AMO?o stranger to adapting its operations to bring in new companies and people?s rolling with the changes, Mazzo said. The changes, so far, haven? shifted things too much in the company.
?ur acquisitions in the past have clearly helped us with this integration,?he said.
AMO makes medical devices used in cataract and laser-vision correction surgeries as well as contact lens solutions. It had sales of $1.2 billion last year.
As an independent company, AMO pulled off three big deals: the $450 million buy of Pfizer Inc.? cataract surgery business in 2004; the $1.3 billion deal for Visx Inc., a Santa Clara maker of laser devices; and the $808 million payment for Irvine-based laser maker IntraLase Corp. in 2007.
?e?e not shy and we?e done a great job of integration,?Mazzo said.
AMO may be able to keep a large portion of its operation intact as Abbott Laboratories is expected to leave the company relatively on its own. The parent company doesn? have a lot of operations that overlap since it is getting into the eye care business with the deal.
Abbott has kept several AMO executives, including Mazzo, albeit under new titles.
There have been some departures of executives whose jobs no longer were needed as part of Abbott.
Michael Lambert, who was Advanced Medical? chief fi-nancial officer, left earlier this month. Lambert is being re-placed by an Abbott executive who will have the title of division vice president of finance and controller.
Aimee Weisner, Advanced Medical? executive vice president of administration, also will be leaving. Weisner is being replaced by another Abbott employee who will have the title of division vice president of human resources.
Abbott declined to name the replacement executives, citing corporate policy.
Any successful integration must include ?nderstanding the culture?of the companies, according to Mazzo.
?f you start with the concept of the culture, you can then overcome a lot of other issues,?he said.
Abbott? and Advanced Medical? cultures ?re extremely similar. (They are) very focused on the healthcare professionals (and) focused on technology. That? what both companies live and breathe,?Mazzo said.
Abbott? dispatched a team of people to Santa Ana to work on integration. That group has taken a phased-in approach to things, such as changing workers?benefits and information systems.
The integration team? work is supported by a steering committee, which includes Mazzo. The professional integration team updates the steering committee monthly.
A few AMO veterans work with the integration team, including Diane Biagianti, previously general counsel and now division vice president and legal section head; Jane Rady, previously corporate vice president of strategy and business development and now division vice president of business development and communications; Leonard Borrmann, who was senior vice president of research and development and now is division vice president of research and development; and Steve Chesterman, AMO? manager of public affairs and communications who works on a branding group within the main team.
There have been other advantages to being part of Abbott, which had a market value of $70 billion as of last week.
Being part of a company that large gives Mazzo some real buying power with its vendors.
?hen I knock on the door as Abbott, I get a little better price,?he said.
Mazzo reiterated that he? not going to leave Abbott Medical.
? just am moving from spending a lot of time in New York to spending a lot of time in Chicago,?Mazzo said.
There? still integration work to be done.
A lot has to do with labeling for AMO? products. While the company gets to continue using the ?MO?acronym, the unit? logo and labels are being changed to sync with Abbott? style.
The labeling of the company? devices and products with the Abbott Medical name ?s go-ing to be the last, final ?ntegration?process we have and will take at least a couple more years because it? an extensive process,?Mazzo said.
Abbott Medical expects other aspects of the integration to be accomplished within the next six to 12 months, Mazzo said.
