Bausch + Lomb to spin off eye care business

(WHAM) - Bausch + Lomb, one of the Rochester's original 'Big Three' companies, is planning is spin off its eye-care business from its pharmaceutical operations.

A report first published Thursday in The Wall Street Journal said the move could happen as soon as Thursday.

Nearly half of the company’s $8.6 billion in revenue came from Bausch Health's Bausch + Lomb eye-care sector in 2019.

As a new company, Bausch + Lomb would be an independent publicly traded company. The remaining divisions of the company would be condensed as a "diversified pharmaceutical company," according to a press release published Thursday. Those include aesthetics and dermatology, gastroenterology, international pharmaceuticals, and neurology.

If approved, the new companies would be separated by early 2021.

Internal financial and reorganization decisions need to be worked out ahead of the deal being finalized, as well as regulatory and Board of Directors approval.

Bausch & Lomb is one of Rochester's oldest companies. In 2018, it announced it would work on an expansion in Rochester that would be completed in 2022. Last month, it said it would expand operations in Virginia.

There are currently more than 1,100 employees in Rochester.