uses see alcon disambiguation . alcon inc. type subsidiary of novartis industry ophthalmology founded fort worth texas united states 1945 headquarters h nenberg switzerland fort worth texas united states key people f. michael mike ball global head products ophthalmic pharmaceuticals surgical equipment contact care products dry eye products ocular vitamins revenue 10 billion usd 2011 number of employees 23 000 2011 website www.alcon.com alcon is an american global medical company specializing in eye care products and headquartered in h nenberg switzerland . alcon s american headquarters are located in fort worth texas . alcon is a subsidiary of novartis . 1 history edit alcon was founded in 1945 2 in fort worth texas usa . the company started as a small pharmacy in fort worth and was named for its founders pharmacists robert alexander and william conner . conner and alexander focused on sterile ophthalmic products . nestl of switzerland purchased alcon in 1977 . alcon expanded its manufacturing capability with new plants in south america and europe and drastically increased its investment in research . in 1979 alcon acquired texas pharmacal company which became dermatological products of texas and is now dpt laboratories . in 1984 alcon founded the technical excellence award to promote achievements in r & d excellence and has awarded it to more than 100 recipients . the alcon product line has expanded from pharmaceuticals to the surgical arena . today alcon has operations in 75 countries and their products are sold in over 180 countries . nestl conducted an initial public offering of 25 % of its stake in alcon in 2002 . the stock is traded under the ticker symbol acl . in july 2008 novartis purchased approximately 25 % of nestl s stake in alcon with an option to buy nestl s remaining shares beginning in 2010 . 3 novartis bought 52 % stake from nestl for 28.1 billion . this deal brought the total ownership of novartis to 77 % . beginning january 2010 novartis formally announced it will be completing the exercise options for finishing purchasing the rest of alcon and then promptly continue to exercise merger and takeover of alcon . 1 on march 29 2010 alcon acquired durezol and zyclorin from sirion therapeutics . alcon received regulatory approval to acquire the rights of durezol emulsion in the us and the global rights excluding latin america for zyclorin from sirion therapeutics . 4 on june 28 2010 the alcon independent director committee announced that professor hans caspar von der crone a leading swiss legal and corporate governance expert had concluded that a recommendation by the independent director committee is an indispensable first step before the board of alcon inc. can decide on the merger proposal of novartis ag a conclusion which refuted novartis public implications that it would be able to unilaterally impose the merger irrespective of the independent director committee s position once novartis became alcon s majority shareholder . on july 8 2010 alcon s independent director committee idc has set up a 50 million litigation trust to ensure company s minority shareholders get the best deal from bidder novartis ag . 5 in august 2010 novartis acquired the remaining 52 percent of alcon shares that nestl owned completing the second step of the transaction to become alcon s majority owner . references edit a b novartis exercises option and proposes merger . scribd . improving vision through innovation since 1945 . reuters novartis announces offer to buy nestl s shares in alcon dead link alcon completes acquisition of durezol and zyclorin from sirion . business wire . march 29 2010 . retrieved march 16 2016 . alcon acl sets up trust for litigation between with novartis to protect minorities . the chief executive forum . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to alcon . alcon official website alcon novartis exercises option and proposes merger novartis needs alcon directors ok for buyout swiss corporate governance expert supports alcon independent director committee s position against novartis dead link v t e pharmaceutical companies of the united states abbott laboratories acorda therapeutics actavis aderis pharmaceuticals adolor corporation alcon alexion pharmaceuticals alkermes allergan alza amgen amylin pharmaceuticals ariad pharmaceuticals aryx therapeutics avax technologies baxter international biocryst pharmaceuticals biogen biolex biovest biovista bradley pharmaceuticals bristol myers squibb cancervax century pharmaceuticals cephalon ceragenix pharmaceuticals combe incorporated cortex pharmaceuticals cotherix covance covidien cubist pharmaceuticals cutter laboratories cytosport cytrx danco laboratories dnaprint genomics epix pharmaceuticals eli lilly and company elorac endo pharmaceuticals ethicon endo surgery ethicon inc. forest laboratories galena biopharma genvec genentech genta gilead sciences hospira imclone systems institute for oneworld health intercept pharmaceuticals ista pharmaceuticals ivax corporation janssen biotech johnson & johnson kinetic concepts king pharmaceuticals kinray kv pharmaceutical leiner health products mallinckrodt martek biosciences corporation s. e. massengill company mckesson corporation mcneil laboratories melior discovery mentholatum merck & co. miles laboratories mylan myriad genetics naurex nereus pharmaceuticals northwest biotherapeutics norwich pharma services novabay pharmaceuticals nuvelo organon international ortho pharmaceutical ortho mcneil pharmaceutical osi pharmaceuticals ovation pharmaceuticals par pharmaceutical parke davis perrigo pfizer pharmaceutical product development prasco laboratories procter & gamble proteon therapeutics purdue pharma qualitest quark pharmaceuticals regeneron repros therapeutics rib x pharmaceuticals sarepta therapeutics savage laboratories schering plough g. d. searle & company sheffield pharmaceuticals smith kline & french spectrum pharmaceuticals sterling drug tanox tap pharmaceutical products tec laboratories teva pharmaceutical industries tiens biotech group titan pharmaceuticals trevena inc trubion upjohn upsher smith laboratories valeant pharmaceuticals ventria bioscience vertex pharmaceuticals verus pharmaceuticals vion pharmaceuticals inc. viropharma west pharmaceutical services wyeth zonite products corporation list of pharmaceutical companies retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title alcon & oldid 740632650 categories companies based in fort worth texascompanies of switzerlandmultinational companiescontact lensespharmaceutical companies of the united statescompanies formerly listed on the new york stock exchangelife sciences industryhidden categories all articles with dead external linksarticles with dead external links from june 2016commons category with local link same as on wikidataarticles with dead external links from march 2015 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces 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