Bausch + Lomb's Saunders doesn't expect more big deals in the near term (updated)

Bausch Health Companies

02/08/2023 17:51

(Adds CEO comments on acquisition strategy in paragraphs 1-3,
spin-off in paragraph 8)
    By Elissa  Welle
       Aug 2 (Reuters) - Eye care firm Bausch + Lomb  BLCO.TO 
does not expect to do another big deal for around a year after
it completes its $1.75 billion deal for dry eye drug Xiidra,
recently rehired chief executive Brent Saunders said on
Wednesday. 
    Noted dealmaker Saunders has already announced two
acquisitions since joining the company in March: the deal to buy
Xiidra from Novartis  NOVN.S  in June and a $106.5 million deal
for Johnson & Johnson's  JNJ.N  eye and contact lens drops brand
Blink.
    "We need to close this one by the end of the year, we need
to integrate it into the company and then we need to digest,
de-lever from a balance sheet perspective," Saunders said in an
interview, adding that the company will look for smaller
opportunities over that time frame. 
    Bausch + Lomb also posted modestly better than expected
second-quarter earnings on Wednesday, reporting revenue of $1.04
billion in the quarter, up from $941 million a year ago.
Analysts, on average, expected revenue of $963 million for the
quarter, according to Refinitiv data. 
    Excluding one-time items, B+L said it earned $65 million, or
18 cents per share, down from $103 million or 29 cents per share
last year, as the company's expenses rose. Still, the earnings
beat analysts' expectations by 3 cents a share.
    Saunders previously helmed and built up Botox maker Allergan
before it was acquired by AbbVie  ABBV.O  for $63 billion in
2020. 
    This is his second stint at Bausch + Lomb, which makes
contact lenses, surgical devices, prescription drugs and generic
eye products. In 2013, Saunders oversaw B+L's acquisition of
Valeant Pharmaceutical, now Bausch Health Companies  BHC.TO .
    Bausch Health still owns most of B+L’s shares and has said
it intends to fully spin the company off. Some Bausch Health
investors are trying to block the spin-off.
    "They have not put out a timeline for the remaining spin,
but I'm confident that that will happen in due course," Saunders
said.

 (Reporting by Elissa Welle in New York
Editing by Michael Erman, Matthew Lewis and Conor Humphries)
 ((elissa.welle@thomsonreuters.com;))