Answer : More than they've committed to so far.
http://www.istockanalyst.com/financ...ghts-value-creation-ability-of-valeant-s-moat
To quote :
"Although we were surprised by the massive amount of synergies management expects to realize in the acquisition, it is not unprecedented. In its last three major acquisitions (Biovail, Medicis, Ortho/Dermik), Valeant was able to cut between 64% and 73% of the target's prior-year operating expenses. However, given that Valeant had only a minimal presence in ophthalmology, we would not expect it to reach such massive synergies on this deal. Management's initial guidance calls for a 49% reduction from Bausch & Lomb's 2012 operating expenses.
Management is conservative in all guidance it gives, frequenting leaving room for overdelivering, so we have no reason to believe that it is now being overly aggressive with its synergy expectations. On the last two deals where management issued synergy targets, it meaningfully beat expectations and realized them much quicker than originally forecast. Management has been similarly conservative with its EPS guidance, beating expectations every single year since J. Michael Pearson took over as CEO in mid-2008."
http://www.istockanalyst.com/financ...ghts-value-creation-ability-of-valeant-s-moat
To quote :
"Although we were surprised by the massive amount of synergies management expects to realize in the acquisition, it is not unprecedented. In its last three major acquisitions (Biovail, Medicis, Ortho/Dermik), Valeant was able to cut between 64% and 73% of the target's prior-year operating expenses. However, given that Valeant had only a minimal presence in ophthalmology, we would not expect it to reach such massive synergies on this deal. Management's initial guidance calls for a 49% reduction from Bausch & Lomb's 2012 operating expenses.
Management is conservative in all guidance it gives, frequenting leaving room for overdelivering, so we have no reason to believe that it is now being overly aggressive with its synergy expectations. On the last two deals where management issued synergy targets, it meaningfully beat expectations and realized them much quicker than originally forecast. Management has been similarly conservative with its EPS guidance, beating expectations every single year since J. Michael Pearson took over as CEO in mid-2008."