Novartis sweetens Alcon offer

The Swiss drugmaker has been trying to clinch 100 percent ownership in Alcon since the start of the year, but its original all-paper offer of 2.8 Novartis shares for each Alcon share met stiff resistance from Alcon’s Independent Director Committee (IDC), which repeatedly dismissed it as “grossly inadequate.” Novartis also said it was restarting a 10 billion Swiss franc ($10.3 billion) share buyback program, suspended in April 2008, to minimize dilution to Novartis shareholders.

The merger consideration will include up to 2.8 Novartis shares and, if necessary, be topped up with cash to ensure that each Alcon shareholder gets $168 per Alcon share, Novartis said.