A Medical Device Daily

Eye health company Bausch & Lomb (B&L; Rochester, New York) reported that its shareholders voted to approve the proposed merger with affiliates of Warburg Pincus at a Friday meeting.

Ronald Zarrella, CEO and chairman of B&L, thanked the company’s shareholders, customers and dedicated employees “for their support throughout this process. We look forward to promptly completing the transaction.” B&L said that more than two-thirds of the shares outstanding voted in favor of the transaction.

At deal close, each outstanding share of common and Class B stock of B&L will be converted into the right to receive $65 in cash, less applicable withholding taxes. The transaction, subject to customary conditions, is expected to close “early” in the fourth quarter in the fourth quarter.

Affiliates of Warburg Pincus are not required to consummate the merger until after expiration of a “marketing period” of 20 business days following the shareholder vote.

Warburg Pincus is a private equity firm reporting about $20 billion in assets under management, investing from nine offices around the world. It says it has invested $4.8 billion in healthcare-related firms, including about $1.5 billion in medical device companies and $1.65 billion in life science and pharma companies.

In other dealmaking: RC Health Group (Cupertino, California) reported that it has purchased Structure House (Durham, North Carolina), a residential, weight-loss facility for adults dealing with obesity and diabetes. Terms were not disclosed.

Structure House was founded in 1977 by Gerard Musante, PhD, a clinical psychologist, who will continue as director of the facility.

“The addition of Structure House to our existing healthy living programs allows for a full range of services to those in need and will nicely complement our adolescent obesity program,” said Dr. Barry Karlin, CEO and chairman of CRC. He said that Musante will lead the expansion of the current Structure House facility in Durham and in another location on the West Coast.

He said the partnership will enable Structure House to explore new offerings for participants an E-Care Program for continuing treating participants at home through telephone and Internet contact.

With 142 programs in 30 states and the UK, CRC is a network of behavioral/educational health programs offering treatment to 25,000 people daily.