(Bloomberg) -- Canada’s Bausch + Lomb Corp. priced its initial public offering below a marketed range to raise $630 million, dimming hopes that the biggest U.S. listing in almost four months will lead a market rebound.
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Bausch + Lomb, the first of two businesses being spun out by Bausch Health Cos., was seen as a test of whether a stable, profitable business could help break the ice for dozens of startups considering IPOs. The companies went ahead with the IPO despite the Dow Jones Industrial Average experiencing its biggest one-day drop since 2020.
Some 35 million shares of the contact lens and eye-care company sold Thursday for $18 each after they were marketed for $21 to $24, according a statement. At the IPO price, Bausch + Lomb, which began as an optical goods shop in 1853, has a market value of $6.3 billion based on its filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Bausch Health will get the proceeds from the IPO as the selling shareholder, according to the filings.
The offering is being led by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The company’s shares are expected to begin trading Friday on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BLCO. Bausch + Lomb will also trade on the Toronto stock exchange under the same ticker.
Income, Brands
Bausch + Lomb, based in Vaughan, Ontario, reported $65 million in net income on $3.8 billion in revenue on a pro forma basis in 2021. In addition to contact lenses and solutions under brands including Ocuvite, PureVision and Biotrue, the company also makes ophthalmic pharmaceuticals for ailments such as glaucoma, as well as surgical tools and devices.
Bausch Health, then known as Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., bought Bausch + Lomb for $8.7 billion in 2013 from an investors group that included Warburg Pincus. In an effort to raise money to pay off tens of billions in debt on its books from that era, Bausch Health is also planning to spin off its Solta Medical skin-care unit. Bausch Health, which is keeping its core pharmaceutical operations, had about $23 billion in total debt as of Dec. 31.
Solta submitted its IPO filing to the SEC in February but hasn’t moved ahead with proposed terms for its share sale. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, Solta had net income of $72.8 million on revenue of $219 million, according to its filing.
Bausch + Lomb’s offering is topped in the U.S. this year only by private equity firm TPG Inc.’s $1.1 billion listing in January, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Weak Start
After a record-busting run last year, U.S. IPOs have had their weakest start since 2016, the data show. Including blank-check firms, 116 companies had raised $16.6 billion this year before the Bausch + Lomb offering. That compares with more than 10 times that total raised by 471 companies at the same point in 2021.
New filings for IPOs have started to trickle in. Steinway Musical Instruments Holdings Inc., the storied grand piano maker, filed its listing document last month.
Others, such as yogurt maker Chobani Inc. and social media platform Reddit Inc., have been waiting to move ahead with their IPO plans. Chobani filed publicly with the SEC in November. Reddit, which said in December that it had filed confidentially with the SEC, hasn’t moved ahead with a public filing yet.
(Updates with IPO market data in 10th paragraph)
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