Novartis AG Completes Acquisition of 25% stake in Alcon Laboratories, Inc. from Nestlé, First Step Toward Majority Ownership of the World Leader in Eye Care

HUENENBERG, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Novartis AG and Nestlé S.A. announced today that they have completed the first step purchase and sale of 74 million shares of Alcon, Inc. (NYSE: ACL) common stock currently owned by Nestlé pursuant to the agreement dated April 6, 2008 between Novartis and Nestlé. With the completion of the first step transaction, Nestlé remains Alcon’s majority shareholder with approximately 52% of Alcon’s issued capital and Novartis now owns a minority stake in Alcon equal to approximately 24.85% of Alcon’s issued capital.