Novartis completed the previously-announced spin-off of its eye care division Alcon on 9 April, creating a new public company with listings on the SIX Swiss Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.
As an independent company, Alcon Inc will have sales of about $7 billion and a staff of more than 20,000 employees. Novartis acquired Alcon from Nestle SA in 2011 in a phased transaction valued at $51.6 billion. It is divesting the company in order to focus on pharmaceutical research and development.
Novartis announced the completion of the spin off on 9 April 2019