Alcon Q4 shows Novartis bid too low

Alcon's quarterly results highlight the inadequacy of Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG's offer to buy out its minority shareholders, independent directors of the US eyecare group said on Friday. Alcon posted an 8 per cent rise in fourth-quarter net profit on Thursday, giving the directors more ammunition to resist Novartis' bid for the outstanding 23 per cent of Alcon. "The Alcon Independent Director Committee today said that Alcon's impressive Q4/FY 2009 financial results underscore the intrinsic value of Alcon and reinforce its conclusion that the Novartis proposal is grossly inadequate," the directors said in a statement on Friday. Novartis, which agreed to buy a majority of Alcon from Nestle, has made what Alcon's independent directors regard as a lowball offer, originally worth $11.2 billion for the remaining 23 per cent. Novartis' bid was pitched in stock and equates to about $150 per Alcon share at latest prices. The U.S. group was trading at $157.17 at 1645 GMT on Friday. Alcon's independent directors had already dismissed the original Novartis bid as "grossly inadequate" and warned key personnel could leave the US eyecare group due to the offer.