M&A

13 January, 2010

Brower Piven Announces Investigation of Alcon, Inc.

Press Release Source: Brower Piven, A Professional Corporation On Wednesday January 13, 2010, 2:03 pm EST

BALTIMORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Brower Piven, A Professional Corporation is investigating potential claims on behalf of shareholders of Alcon, Inc. ("Alcon" or the "Company") (NYSE:ACL - News) for possible breaches of fiduciary duties by the Alcon Board of Directors and other violations of state law arising from the announcement by Novartis AG ("Novartis") (NYSE:NVS - News) that it has exercised its right to acquire Nestle S.A.'s ("Nestle") stake in Alcon for $180 per share in cash, or a total of $28.1 billion, as well as its intent to merge Alcon into Novartis under Swiss merger law and acquire each remaining Alcon share (approximately 23%) held by the public for 2.8 shares of Novartis per Alcon share, equivalent to about $11.2 billion.

The investigation concerns the potential unfairness of the consideration to be paid to Alcon's minority shareholders, as well as the Alcon Board of Directors' potential breaches of their fiduciary duties to Alcon shareholders. Alcon's public shareholders are unable to protect their own interests because Novartis and Nestle structured the transaction to deprive Alcon's minority shareholders of any protection or legal redress.

If you own shares in Alcon and wish to obtain additional information relating to the prospective acquisition of Alcon by Novartis, please contact Brower Piven at www.browerpiven.com, by email at hoffman@browerpiven.com, by calling 410/415-6616, or at Brower Piven, A Professional Corporation, 1925 Old Valley Road, Stevenson, Maryland 21153.

Attorneys at Brower Piven have combined experience litigating securities and class action cases of over 40 years. If you choose to retain counsel regarding this matter, you may retain Brower Piven without financial obligation or cost to you, or you may retain other counsel of your choice.