LAVAL, Quebec—Bausch Health Cos. (NYSE/TSX: BHC) said this week that it has transferred common shares in an amount equal to approximately 38.6 percent of the issued and outstanding shares of Bausch + Lomb Corp. to an existing wholly owned unrestricted subsidiary of Bausch Health. This transfer is consistent with the company's “commitment to the separation of Bausch + Lomb and provides the company with strategic flexibility while it evaluates all relevant factors and considerations relating to the separation of Bausch + Lomb,” the Bausch Health announcement noted.

No timeframe for the B+L separation to be completed was disclosed in the announcement.
 
Common shares in an amount equal to approximately 50.1 percent of Bausch + Lomb continue to be held by a wholly-owned restricted subsidiary of the company, and Bausch + Lomb itself remains a restricted subsidiary of Bausch Health, the announcement added.
 
B+L became a public company in early May, as VMAIL reported, when parent company Bausch Health separated its eye health business via a public stock offering. Bausch Health raised about $630 million in the limited offering of B+L shares (below an expected $840 million at a projected higher share price), and continued to hold its roughly 90 percent stake in Bausch + Lomb.
 
Also this week, Bausch Health said it has engaged Houlihan Lokey and White & Case as financial and legal advisors, respectively, to assist the company in evaluating potential strategic alternatives. The company did not provide additional details on the nature of the “strategic alternatives.”
 
The separation of Bausch + Lomb is contingent on the expiry of customary lockups related to the initial public offering of Bausch + Lomb, the achievement of targeted debt leverage ratios and the receipt of applicable shareholder and other necessary approvals, Bausch Health added.