What Novartis Sees in Eye Care

Persistence may as well be Daniel Vasella's middle name. The CEO of drug giant Novartis (NVS) has tried for years to pry eye-care company Alcon (ACL) from Nestlé. Once he proposed a swap: Nestlé could have Novartis' medical nutrition and baby food business if it would part with Alcon, known for contact lens solutions and all manner of ophthalmic medicines.

The swap never happened. But Novartis has announced that it is finally taking control of Alcon in a deal worth nearly $50 billion, the biggest merger in Swiss history. The ground was set in 2008 when Novartis paid Nestlé $10.4 billion for a 25% stake in Alcon. On Jan. 4, Novartis exercised an option to buy the 52% stake that Nestlé still held in Alcon and agreed to purchase the remaining 23% held by minority shareholders, offering 2.8 shares of Novartis stock for each share of Alcon.