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CooperVision's recent acquisition of Ocular Sciences takes the Big Five down to the Big Four.
Contact lens manufacturer consolidation has slowed down in the past two or three years. The big recent industry moves took place in 2001:
* CIBA Vision bought Wesley Jessen Vision Care.
* CooperVision bought Biocompatibles (which had recently acquired Hydron).
* Ocular Sciences, Inc. (OSI) bought the contact lens businesses of Essilor International (Sunsoft toric lenses and Essilor's disposable bifocals).
In another acquisition at the end of July 2004, Cooper Companies and OSI signed a definitive agreement for Cooper to acquire OSI in a merger for stock and cash, having a value of $44 per share of OSPs common stock, according to CooperVision's press release. (This value was based on the average $56.72 closing share price of Cooper's common stock over the 10 trading days ended July 27, 2004.) The total purchase is approximately $1.2 billion, which represents a premium of about 17.7 percent. At closing, Cooper will pay approximately $600 million in cash and issue approximately 10.3 million shares of its common stock to OSI stockholders and option holders. The transaction is expected to...