(Reuters) -Bausch + Lomb will not be taken private at this time, the contact lens maker said on Thursday, sending its U.S.-listed shares down 7% to $16.50 in premarket trading.
The company had said in December it was exploring a potential sale and other options to help its Canadian parent Bausch Health to exit the eye-care company.
The contact lens maker said on Thursday taking it private with a third-party buyer was one of several options it was exploring to complete a full separation from the parent company.
However, such a deal will not happen at this time, it said, adding that the full separation remains the goal.
In 2022, Bausch Health separated Bausch + Lomb into another publicly listed company, but retained a majority stake, of 88.08% stake, according to data compiled by LSE.
The Financial Times reported in October that private equity firms TPG and Blackstone were working on a joint bid to take the company private for up to $11.5 billion, including debt.
However, in December, the newspaper reported on Blackstone’s cooling interest on taking part in the joint takeover bid for the eye care company.
(Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Shinjini Ganguli)
