VAUGHAN, Ontario—At the end of a topsy-turvy week for the stock market, Bausch + Lomb Corp. (NYSE/TSX: BLCO) on Friday launched as an independent, publicly traded company when it began trading under the “BLCO” symbol on the New York Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange. The shares, priced at $18 in the initial public offering, ended the first day of trading on the exchanges Friday with a gain of $1.96 and closed at $19.96. B+L also became the first big company in several months to try going public in what has been a turbulent stock market since the beginning of the year.

Parent company Bausch Health Cos. set an $18 initial offering share price Thursday evening (May 5), which was lower than the $21 to $23 range it had previously projected, as VMAIL reported.
 
Still, the parent company raised $630 million in the offering (below an expected $840 million at the higher share price), and continues to hold approximately 85 percent to 90 percent of the common shares of Bausch + Lomb.
 
B+L did not receive any of the proceeds from the offering.
 

Joseph C. Papa.
“Today marks a tremendous milestone for Bausch + Lomb and an important step forward on the path to an independent company focused on eye health,” Joseph C. Papa, chairman and chief executive officer of Bausch + Lomb said in an announcement. “Bausch + Lomb has long been associated with many of the most significant advances in eye health, and I am honored to work alongside our 12,000 global employees as we continue to focus on achieving our ongoing mission of helping people see better to live better all over the world.”
 
Papa also continues as chairman of the board of Bausch Health.
 
As a fully integrated eye health company, Bausch + Lomb offers a comprehensive portfolio of more than 400 products spanning contact lenses, lens and eyecare products, ophthalmic pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter products and ophthalmic surgical devices and instruments. The company was founded in 1853.
 
With the announcement of its launch as an independent company, B+L also provided information on its executive management team, including the following positions in addition to Papa:
 
  • Christina Ackermann, executive vice president & general counsel, and president, ophthalmic pharmaceuticals

  • Dennis Asharin, executive vice president, chief global manufacturing and supply chain officer

  • Sam Eldessouky, chief financial officer

  • Joseph (Joe) Gordon, president, global consumer, surgical and vision care

  • Yehia Hashad, MD, executive vice president of research & development and chief medical officer

  • Louis Yu, PhD, executive vice president, chief quality officer

  • Kelly Webber, executive vice president, chief human resources officer.
More information, including biographies of the members of the board of directors and executive management team and information for investors, can be found on Bausch + Lomb’s updated corporate website here.
 
Bausch + Lomb currently has projects in various stages of pre-clinical and clinical development, including new over-the-counter eyecare products, contact lenses, innovative software and prescription medications for myopia management, next-generation cataract and LASIK surgical equipment, premium intraocular lenses, investigational treatments for dry eye and preservative-free formulations of a range of eye drops.