Bausch announces IPO for medical aesthetics business as second-quarter revenues surge

Bausch Health Companies Inc. says it plans to pursue an initial public offering of its medical aesthetics business as part of structural changes to unlock the pharmaceutical company’s value.

The Quebec-based company says the IPO of Solta Medical, which had 2020 revenues of US$253 million, should take place in the fourth quarter or first half of 2022, depending on market conditions.

The announcement came as Bausch reported deeper net losses in its latest quarter despite a 26 per cent increase in revenues.

Bausch says its net loss attributable to shareholders was US$595 million or US$1.66 per diluted share in the second quarter, compared with a loss of US$326 million or 92 cents per share a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items such as legal settlement costs, the adjusted net profit more than doubled to US$352 million from US$165 million in the second quarter of 2020.

Revenues for the three months ended June 30 were US$2.1 billion, up from US$1.66 billion in the prior year due to increased sales volumes resulting from the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our second-quarter 2021 results demonstrate impressive overall company growth as our businesses continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic,” stated chairman and CEO Joseph Papa.

“We saw strong performance with market share gains for many of our leading brands and strong cash flow generation in the quarter, which has enabled us to make great strides in reducing our debt.”

The public offering would transform Bausch into three companies: the Bausch + Lomb eye health company, Bausch Pharma and Solta.

Bausch was expected to earn US$359.4 million in adjusted profits on US$2.12 billion of revenues, according to financial data firm Refinitiv.

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