Abbott Laboratories will divest its eye care division to Johnson & Johnson for about $4.33 billion in cash, reported Reuters.
Here are five things to know about the deal.
- Abbott, which recently acquired medical device makers St. Jude Medical for $25 billion and Alere for $5.8 billion, sold the eye division to reduce debt and focus more effort on developing a strong portfolio of cardiovascular devices and diagnostics.
- The deal will help J&J expand its ocular portfolio with products for cataract surgery, laser refractive surgery and consumer eye health units. J&J's eye care unit — which includes Acuvue contact lenses — reported $685 million in revenue for the second quarter.
- Abbott Medical Optics, which Abbott acquired for almost $1.4 billion in 2009, generated sales of $1.1 billion in 2015, J&J reported.
- The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017.
- Abbott's stock jumped 1.8 percent Friday, closing at $41.87. J&J's shares fell 0.3 percent before closing at $118.25.
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