Bausch + Lomb, Year’s Second-Biggest IPO, Pops in Public Debut

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Eye-care company

Bausch + Lomb

and biotech

PepGen

kicked off their lives as public companies Friday. 

The two companies opened during a slow time for new issues. Inflation, broad market volatility, and the war in Ukraine have caused IPOs to come to a near halt in 2022. Just 39 firms have gone public using traditional offerings as of May 6, raising $4 billion, according to Dealogic. This compares to 140 businesses, collecting $56.6 billion, for the same period in 2021. 

PepGen (ticker: PEPG) was the first to begin trading. Shares launched at $15.60 and closed at $12.89, up 7.4%.

The debut came after the biotech increased the size of its offering by 25% to 9 million shares, which it priced at $12, below its $13 to $15 a share. BofA Securities,

SVB Securities
,
and

Stifel

are lead underwriters on the deal. 

PepGen is seeking to treat severe neuromuscular and neurological diseases.

Bausch + Lomb’s (BLCO) stock rose more than 11% to end at $20. 

Late Thursday, the company raised $630 million after selling 35 million shares at $18, below its expected range of $21 to $24.

Morgan Stanley

and

Goldman Sachs

are lead underwriters on the IPO. At $630 million, the Bausch + Lomb offering ranks as the second-largest IPO this year, behind the $1 billion offering from private-equity firm TPG (TPG), which listed in January. 

At $20, Bausch + Lomb’s valuation is $7 billion.

Bausch + Lomb is a leading supplier of contact lenses. It also provides lens care products, as well as drops and vitamins for the eye. It is one of two businesses that parent Bausch Health (BHC) is taking public to reduce its $22.9 billion debt. The other is skin care company Solta Medical, which has filed for an IPO but has yet to set terms. 

Bausch + Lomb didn’t offer stock in its IPO and won’t receive proceeds from the sale of shares. The parent is selling all 35 million shares offered in the Bausch + Lomb IPO. Bausch Health’s stake could drop to 88.5% if the underwriters exercise the overallotment option, a prospectus said.

Bausch Health is the former Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, which in 2020 paid $45 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle claims of improper revenue recognition and misleading disclosures in SEC filings and earnings presentations. Valeant acquired Bausch + Lomb in 2013 for nearly $9 billion.

Write to Luisa Beltran at [email protected]