Alcon, LENSAR abandon proposed merger amidst FTC pushback

Alcon and LENSAR have decided to terminate a previously agreed-upon merger due to scrutiny from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC).^1,2

The merger, originally announced in March 2025,³ included the ALLY Robotic Cataract Laser Treatment System, LENSAR’s proprietary Streamline software technology, and the LENSAR legacy laser system. Under the original terms of the agreement, Alcon was set to purchase all outstanding shares of LENSAR for $14.00 per share in cash (a value of approximately $356 million).

In a press release, LENSAR stated that the 2 companies mutually agreed terminating the merger agreement is in the “best interest of both companies, as the required closing condition of receiving necessary US regulatory approvals is unlikely to be met by the merger agreement’s outside date of April 23, 2026, or the potential extended outside date of July 23, 2026.”

David J. Endicott, CEO of Alcon, stated, “Alcon continues to believe that the acquisition of LENSAR would have significantly enhanced FLACS innovation and competition to the benefit of surgeons and patients. However, the delay and associated costs of this extended regulatory review, which began nearly a year ago, has rendered the transaction unattractive to pursue further in light of the Federal Trade Commission’s opposition.”

The FTC director, Daniel Guarnera, commented on the FTC pushback to the deal,⁴ stating, “The Bureau’s American Competition Enforcement (ACE) Division identified substantial competitive concerns with this transaction, which would have combined the 2 most significant players in the market for laser systems used in femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery. […] Competitors simply cannot attempt to buy out rivals to get out from the heat of pricing and innovation competition.”

Guarnera concluded by saying that the ACE division produced evidence of consumer harm so substantial that the companies “threw up a white flag rather than risk facing the FTC in court.”

This is not the first proposed merger that Alcon has seen fall through in the last year. A proposed merger with STAAR Surgical faced months of stockholder resistance before finally being abandoned at the beginning of 2026 after STAAR failed to receive the necessary stockholder votes to approve the merger agreement with Alcon.⁵

In 2025, Alcon announced its intention to acquire multiple businesses in the ophthalmology market. LENSAR, STAAR, and LumiThera were the targets, with a majority interest in Aurion Biotech also secured. LumiThere was the only deal of the 3 acquisitions to go through, with a new company, OpZira, being formed as LumiThera’s diagnostic product lines were spun off to LumiThera shareholders.⁶

References:

1. Alcon and LENSAR, Inc. Agree to Terminate Merger Agreement. Published March 16, 2026. Accessed March 20, 2026. https://www.alcon.com/media-release/alcon-and-lensar-inc-agree-terminate-merger-agreement/

2. LENSAR® Announces Termination of Merger Agreement with Alcon Research, LLC. Published March 16, 2026. Accessed March 20, 2026. https://ir.lensar.com/news-releases/news-release-details/lensarr-announces-termination-merger-agreement-alcon-research

3. Harp MD.Alcon agrees to purchase LENSAR. Published March 25, 2025. Accessed March 20, 2026. https://www.ophthalmologytimes.com/view/alcon-agrees-to-purchase-lensar

4. FTC Stops Proposed Merger of Leading Cataract-Surgery Device Makers. Published March 17, 2026. Accessed March 20, 2026. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/03/ftc-stops-proposed-merger-leading-cataract-surgery-device-makers

5. Harp MD. STAAR Surgical terminates proposed acquisition by Alcon. Published January 6, 2026. Accessed March 20, 2026. https://www.ophthalmologytimes.com/view/staar-surgical-terminates-proposed-acquisition-by-alcon

6. Harp MD. New company OpZira formed following Alcon’s acquisition of LumiThera. Published September 11, 2025. Accessed March 20, 2026. https://www.ophthalmologytimes.com/view/new-company-opzira-formed-following-alcon-s-acquisition-of-lumithera