J&J in $4.3 billion deal to acquire Abbott Medical Optics

US healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Abbott Medical Optics (AMO), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT), for $4.325 billion in cash.

AMO reported sales of $1.1 billion for 2015. The acquisition will include ophthalmic products in three business segments: cataract surgery, laser refractive surgery and consumer eye health.

"Eye health is one of the largest, fastest growing and most underserved segments in health care today," said Ashley McEvoy, company group chairman, responsible for Johnson & Johnson's Vision Care Companies, adding: "With the acquisition of Abbott Medical Optics' strong and differentiated surgical ophthalmic portfolio, coupled with our world-leading Acuvue contact lens business, we will become a more broad-based leader in vision care. Importantly, with this acquisition we will enter cataract surgery – one of the most commonly performed surgeries and the number one cause of preventable blindness."