Bausch + Lomb buyout gets blurry beyond $7 bln

Bausch Health Companies

13/12/2024 18:24

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist.  The opinions
expressed are his own.)
    By Robert Cyran
       NEW YORK, Dec 13 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Private
equity firm TPG is interested in the eye care company, whose
parent’s $20 bln of debt makes it a willing seller. A new owner
will struggle to find big costs to cut and to exit at a higher
valuation multiple. Such constraints make it harder to see clear
to a 20% return.
        
    Full view will be published shortly.
    Follow @rob_cyran on X
         
    CONTEXT NEWS
    Eye care company Bausch + Lomb said on Dec. 12 it was
exploring a sale and other strategic options, following media
reports that private equity firms are considering a buyout.
    Blackstone would probably drop out of a consortium with TPG
that had been working on a deal, the Financial Times reported on
Dec. 10. 
    Parent Bausch Health separated Bausch + Lomb into a
separately listed public company in 2022 and retains a nearly
90% stake.

 (Editing by Jeffrey Goldfarb and Pranav Kiran)
 ((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can
click on  CYRAN/ 
robert.cyran@thomsonreuters.com))