Valeant ‘nearing’ £6bn Bausch & Lomb deal

CANADA’S Valeant Pharmaceuticals International is understood to be nearing a deal to acquire US eye care company Bausch & Lomb (B&L) in a $9 billion (£6bn) deal.

Private equity owner Warburg Pincus is expected to announce an agreement as early as next week.

B&L, founded by two Germans in 1953, employs about 13,000 people in 36 countries.

In 2009 it announced it was closing its contact lens factory in Livingston and transferring production to Ireland and the United States.

The Livingston operation had been set up by Scottish entrepreneur Ron Hamilton in 1993, under the name Award.

Employee numbers soared to 1,200 at the peak of production.