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A slow-and-steady medical products company may not be sexy, but it may just hit the spot in the stock market these days.
Advanced Medical Optics Inc., a maker of contact lens care and eye surgical products, is set to be spun off from Irvine-based drug maker Allergan Inc. on July 1.
Nearly 29 million shares of Advanced Medical are set to go to shareholders of Allergan, which isn't raising any money in the offering. The new company is set to trade as AVO on the New York Stock Exchange.
Advanced Medical is set to join the middle ranks of Orange County public companies. James Mezzo, Advanced Medical's chief execufive, has said the company expects a market value of $500 million to $800 million.
That would place Advanced Medical alongside health companies such as Alliance Imaging Inc. of Anaheim, with a market value of $716 million at recent check, and Orange-based Sybron Dental Specialties Inc., at $732 million last week.
Allergan was OC's most valuable public company as of last week with an $8.3 billion market capitalization.
Advanced Medical even has found itself a
new home: It plans to move from Allergan's Dupont Drive campus to a Santa Ana industrial park where its neighbor will be Ingram Micro Inc. Advanced Medical is leasing excess space from the technology products distributor.
Advanced Medical is profitable with annual sales of about $540 million. The company's revenue is growing, albeit at a slower pace than Allergan's drug business, which has been fueled by Botox, a neurotoxin popular with cosmetic surgeons.
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