Today, Novartis AG completed the spin-off of the Alcon

eye care devices business, and Alcon Inc. debuted as independent publicly

traded company. The Alcon shares were successfully listed on the SIX Swiss

Exchange Ltd. and the New York Stock Exchange. They are also included in the

Swiss Market Index (SMI), which comprises the 20 largest Swiss listed stocks.

The spin-off has been effected through a tax-neutral

dividend-in-kind distribution of Alcon shares to holders of Novartis shares and

ADRs that was previously approved by Novartis shareholders. It has been

preceded by the complete legal and structural separation of the Alcon business

into a standalone company through a series of transactions. Alcon is a global

leader in eye care and the largest eye care device company in the world, with

complementary businesses in surgical and vision care. In light of Alcon's

market capitalization of more than CHF 28bn (at close of trading on SIX Swiss Exchange), it was the largest spin-off and listing

on the SIX Swiss Exchange in a decade at least.

Bär & Karrer has acted as Swiss legal and tax

advisor to Novartis and Alcon in the planning and implementation of this

transaction. The team was led by Rolf Watter, Urs Kägi, Thomas U. Reutter and

Susanne Schreiber and included Vera Naegeli, Nadina Duss, Annina Hammer,

Frédéric Mancosu and Matthias Tanner (all Corporate and M&A), Daniel Raun

and Annette Weber (both Capital Markets), Christoph Suter, Lukas Scherer,

Matthias Bizzaro and Kerem Altay (all Tax), Roland Truffer and Alexander von

Jeinsen (both Financing), Markus Wang (IP) and Laura Widmer (Employment).