A panel of directors at Alcon Inc. (NYSE: ACL) rejected a $39 billion takeover bid by Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) on Wednesday, according to Associated Press.
The rejection by the committee, which is made up of three independent board members, comes after minority shareholders had a similar response to Novartis' Jan. 4 announcement that it plans to pay $38.5 billion for the 77 percent stake in Alcon it does not already own.
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Alcon organized the committee to evaluate the proposed merger based on financial and legal counsel. The deal also requires regulatory approval.
Novartis said it was acquiring Nestle SA's 52 percent stake for $28 billion in cash before completing a merger with Alcon that would give it control of the remaining 23 percent held by minority shareholders.
The minority shareholders then filed a class-action lawsuit to prevent Novartis from completing the takeover.
The pharmaceutical company had already purchased 25 percent of Alcon from Nestle in April 2008 for $11 billion, with the option of buying the company's remaining stake at a later date.
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