(Reuters & WXXI News) - Canada's Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc said it would cut 10 to 15 percent jobs after buying Rochester-bassed Bausch+Lomb and added that cost savings may rise from initial estimates at the time of the deal. The company's U.S. headquarters will be in New Jersey.
Valeant, which offered to buy Bausch+ Lomb Holdings for $8.7 billion in May, had said it would save at least $800 million by 2014. The company said on Monday it expected savings of over $800 million from the deal.
The company expects to save more than $500 million this year. The combined company would have less than 100 corporate staff, it said. There is no word yet how many jobs may be impacted in Rochester. A letter from Valeant to employees says that the company will continue to operate all of its current manufacturing locations in the U.S., including Rochester, which Valeant calls “an important site given its manufacturing and R & D capabilities.” The company also is not planning to cut its sales force.
Valeant had over 7,000 employees as of Dec. 31, a regulatory filing showed. Rochester, New York-based Bausch and Lomb employs about 11,000 people worldwide, according to its website. About 1700 Bausch and Lomb staffers work in Rochester, many of them at the company's site on North Goodman Street. B+L has been trying to sell its downtown officer tower for the last couple of years.
Valeant said its Medicis operations will be relocated to New Jersey from Scottsdale, Arizona and Obagi operations will be combined with a Bausch & Lomb location in California. Valeant will continue to be headquartered at Laval, Quebec.
Valeant, which expects to get regulatory nod by early August, said severance plans for the United States and Canada have been finalized.