Multi-nationals eyeing €13bn buyout of Waterford’s biggest employer
Bausch + Lomb, who employ more than 1,500 Waterford workers, could be sold.
Two huge American investment funds are reportedly preparing a €13 billion bid to purchase one of Waterford’s biggest employers, Bausch + Lomb.
The pharmaceutical company employs more than 1,500 people at their contact lens manufacturing plant in the IDA Business Park on the Cork Road. The company recently invested an additional €90 million to expand its capabilities in its Waterford plant and applied for planning permission for further developments in the Déise in July.
According to the Financial Times, Investment funds, Blackstone and TPG are teaming up to finance a bid for the company in the region of $14 billion (€12.8 billion).
Formal bids for the eyecare maker are expected to come by the end of October and the news led to a sharp rise in Bausch + Lomb’s share value of more than seven per cent.
The potential joint bid comes after news that Bausch Health was working with investment bankers Jefferies Financial Group on a debt refinancing deal to allow Bausch + Lomb to be separated from its parent company. This move would make a sale of the Waterford employer more likely to be completed.
Bausch Health was nearly €20 billion in debt following a string of takeovers, the Financial Times revealed in September, the sale of its eyecare subsidiary would clear a significant portion of this debt.
Waterford News & Star has contacted Bausch + Lomb for comment as to whether the Waterford plant would be impacted by the purchase.
