CIBA Vision Corporation, the eye care unit of Novartis AG has completed the merger of WJ Acquisition Corp., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Novartis, with and into Wesley Jessen VisionCare, Inc. Wesley Jessen is now an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Novartis.
The acquisition of Wesley Jessen is an important move for CIBA Vision as the combined company is the world’s second largest contact lens company.
CIBA Vision and Wesley Jessen had 1999 pro-forma sales of $1.4 billion and employed 8,900.
“We are now able to move forward with combining CIBA Vision and Wesley Jessen into the leading firm in the contact lens industry,” said Glen Bradley, CEO of CIBA Vision.
CIBA Vision is a global leader in research, development and manufacturing of optical and ophthalmic products and services, including contact lenses, lens care products, ophthalmic surgical products and ophthalmic pharmaceuticals.
CIBA Vision products are available in more than 70 countries.