Bristol-Myers Squibb completes split-off of Mead Johnson

Bristol-Myers Squibb revealed this week that the split-off of Mead Johnson Nutrition ? one of the firm’s subsidiaries – has been completed.

As a result of the move, the firm revealed that Mead Johnson will be reported as a discontinued operation for 2009.

Additionally, in the remainder of its financial reports for this year, the earnings-per-share impact of the 269 million share reduction will be minimal.

This, it stated, is due to the relatively short period of time that the lower-weighted average number of shares will be outstanding.

James Cornelius, chairman and chief executive officer of Bristol-Myers Squibb, said: “As we continue our transformation into a next-generation BioPharma leader, we are confident in our ability to execute on our strategy and in the strong performance of our BioPharma business.”

Earlier this month, Bristol-Myers Squibb set the ratio for its offer to exchange up to 170 million shares of common stock with the Mead Johnson Nutrition Company.