LAVAL, Quebec and VAUGHAN, Ontario—Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE/TSX: BHC) said late Thursday that it has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) its plans for spinning off the wholly owned subsidiary Bausch + Lomb Corp. This filing is in connection with the company’s previously announced intention to separate the vision care business, Bausch + Lomb Corp. and the plan now moves ahead with the public filing of a registration statement on Form S-1 with the SEC and a preliminary base post-receipt pricing procedure (PREP) prospectus with the securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces and territories of Canada (other than Quebec) relating to this proposed initial public offering (IPO) of Bausch + Lomb's common shares.

Bausch Health initially announced its intention to spinoff the B+L eyecare business unit in August 2020, as VMAIL reported.
 
In its filing with the SEC, B+L said it plans to raise $100 million in the share offering, however, initial news reports said this might be “a placeholder figure” that is likely to change as the process moves ahead.
 
All of the shares being offered will be sold by a wholly owned subsidiary of Bausch Health. The number of common shares to be offered and the price range for the IPO have not yet been determined, according to the Bausch Health statement on Thursday.
 
After the completion of the offering, Bausch Health “will continue to indirectly own a majority of the voting power of common shares eligible to vote in the election” of B+L directors, the S-1 filing noted. “As a result, we will be a ‘controlled company’ within the meaning of the corporate governance standards of the NYSE.”
 
The filing did not specify the percentage ownership that Bausch Health expects to retain.
 
In fiscal year 2020, the B+L business unit reported sales of $3.412 billion, which included $2.1 billion in the vision care and consumer health segment and the balance in the ophthalmic pharmaceuticals and surgical segments. The company has not yet reported fiscal 2021 results.
 
Looking ahead, B+L said in the S-1 filing that it plans to develop and commercialize a “global pipeline of over 100 projects in various stages of pre-clinical and clinical development, including new contact lenses and prescription medications for myopia, next-generation cataract equipment, premium IOLs, investigational treatments for dry eye, novel formulation for eye vitamins and preservative free formulation of eye drops to accelerate future growth.”
 
The filing added, “We believe that our current pipeline is among the strongest in our company’s history, and our ability to continue to invest in our leading research and development activities will continue to drive growth in our pipeline and development of new technologies.”
 
The company expects its shares to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), subject to approval, in each case under the symbol “BLCO.” The shares will trade in U.S. dollars on the NYSE and in Canadian dollars on the TSX.
 
B+L, founded in 1853, is an iconic name in eyecare, and is the company that invented Ray-Ban sunglasses for military pilots. It also was the first to introduce mass-produced soft contact lenses and contact-lens solutions. The company now sells a wide assortment  of products, including eye-surgery devices. 
 
Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs & Co. are acting as joint lead book-running managers for the IPO. J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, Barclays, BofA Securities, Guggenheim Securities, Jefferies, Evercore ISI, Wells Fargo Securities and Deustche Bank Securities are acting as joint book-running managers for the IPO, and DNB Markets, HSBC and Truist Securities are acting as co-managers for the IPO.
 
The IPO will be made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the prospectus and the preliminary base PREP prospectus, when available, may be obtained from Morgan Stanley & Co.