Allergan Acquires Entravision, Maker of Eye Surgery Products

Allergan Inc., a manufacturer of pharmaceutical and eye- and skin-care products, announced Monday that it has purchased the assets of Entravision Inc., a North Carolina manufacturer of ophthalmic surgery products.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Entravision, founded in 1983, makes and distributes equipment, disposable accessories and solutions used in eye surgery.

“It’s not a very big company,” said Shel Holtz, an Allergan spokesman.

“It gives us an additional profit margin on our surgical side, so we won’t be so reliant on (contact) lenses.”

The purchase expands Allergan’s line of surgery-related products to include an irrigating solution used during eye surgery that Entravision calls Amo Endosol Extra(R).

In addition, Allergan will be able to use Entravision’s manufacturing facility to make some disposable products used in cataract surgery.

In October, the Irvine company announced that it would reduce its involvement in the competitive contact lens manufacturing business and that it would seek other investment opportunities.

Allergan lost $59.5 million last year because of a corporate restructuring, but its sales increased 5.7% to $839 million.