AMO to acquire IntraLase

Santa Ana, CA-Advanced Medical Optics Inc. (AMO) will acquire IntraLase Corp. for approximately $808 million in cash, adding IntraLase’s femtosecond laser technology for LASIK to its portfolio of refractive technologies.

Under terms of the agreement, announced Jan. 8, AMO will use financing from a consortium of banks to pay $25 in cash per share of IntraLase stock and the individually determined cash value per share of outstanding stock options. The company expects to complete the purchase early in the second quarter of this year.

“We believe the transaction benefits eye-care practitioners and their patients by bringing together state-of-the-art technologies to define a new standard of care in laser vision correction,” said Jim Mazzo, chairman, president, and chief executive officer (CEO) of AMO.

Robert J. Palmisano, IntraLase president and CEO, said, “There will now be the ability to advance our femtosecond laser technology in a coordinated way, both developmentally and commercially, with the world’s leading excimer laser technology. Also, this combination provides the opportunity for further innovation and beneficial refinement of LASIK procedures that can and should grow the overall LASIK market.”

UBS Investment Bank is serving as the lead financial adviser to AMO in the acquisition, and Bank of America is acting as the lead financial adviser to IntraLase.

Because of the purchase, AMO predicts a decrease in adjusted earnings per share in 2007, from the previously forecast $1.85 to $2 range to the $1.40 to $1.55 range. The company expects 2007 revenues to increase, however, from the previously predicted $1.06 to $1.08 million range to the $1.15 million to $1.18 million range.