CHICAGO, April 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks.com
announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every
day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and
events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently
featured in the blog include: Alcon Inc. (NYSE: ACL),
Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS), Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ),
Celgene Corporation (Nasdaq: CELG) and Elan
Corporation (NYSE: ELN).
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101027/ZIRLOGO)
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Here are highlights from Friday's Analyst Blog:
Alcon Shareholders Approve Merger
Alcon Inc. (NYSE: ACL) recently announced that its
shareholders have approved of the company's merger with Novartis
AG (NYSE: NVS). Per the terms of the merger agreement, Alcon
shareholders will receive 2.9228 Novartis shares or American
Depositary Shares (ADS) along with a cash payment of $8.20 for each share that they hold.
We note that the completion of the merger is subject to approval
by the Novartis shareholders.
The Alcon board had approved the merger in December last year,
following a favorable recommendation from the Independent Director
Committee and a fairness opinion issued by Lazard Ltd.
(NYSE: LAZ), among other things.
Following the completion of the merger, Alcon will become the
second largest division within Novartis. Moreover, Novartis' CIBA
Vision, select eye care medicines and an Alcon business wing will
be integrated into Alcon, forming an organization, which will
contribute more than $8.7 billion in
sales (over 70%) to the eye care segment.
This acquisition will help Novartis diversify and make up for
revenues lost to generic competition. Moreover, it will help the
company bolster its position in the eye care market, which presents
significant growth potential due to the unmet needs of an aging
population.
Novartis had first announced its intention to gain full
ownership of Alcon in early January
2010. At that time, the former had a 25% stake in the
latter. In April 2010, Novartis
acquired 156 million shares of Alcon from Swiss corporation Nestlé
S.A. for $28.3 billion, raising its
stake in the company to 77%. Novartis' outlay for acquiring the
entire 77% stake in Alcon was about $38.7
billion.
Currently, we have Neutral recommendations on both the
companies, supported by Zacks #3 Ranks (short-term Hold
rating).
Celgene Settles with Elan
Recently, Celgene Corporation (Nasdaq: CELG) has settled
a legal dispute with Elan Corporation (NYSE: ELN) regarding
cancer injection Abraxane. Abraxane became a part of Celgene's
portfolio in October 2010 with
Celgene's acquisition of Abraxis BioScience Inc. Legal action
against Abraxis BioScience was initiated by Elan in 2006.
In June 2008, Elan got a favorable
judgment that Abraxis BioScience had infringed a patent owned by it
pertaining to the application of Elan's nanocrystal technology to
Abraxane. Consequently, Elan was awarded $55
million -- a royalty of 6% on Abraxane sales from
January 2005 through June 13, 2008 (the date of the judgment).
The settlement of the patent dispute allows Elan to receive a
one-time payment of $78 million from
Celgene. Celgene will make no further payments to Elan regarding
the drug. Moreover, through this settlement Celgene will acquire
from Elan a fully paid-up, exclusive, global license to certain US
and foreign patents for Abraxane.
We note that Abraxane is already available in the US and
European markets as a second-line therapy for metastatic breast
cancer. Celgene intends to launch Abraxane in other countries for
treating metastatic breast cancer throughout the second half of
2011 and 2012.
The drug is being developed for other indications such as skin,
lung and pancreatic cancer. US approval of the drug for lung cancer
is expected to be sought in the second half of 2011. Abraxane
contributed $71 million to Celgene's
revenues in the final quarter of 2010.
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