San Diego, March 26, 2012 (Shareholders Foundation) -- The announcement by ISTA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. that its board of directors agreed a takeover of ISTA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. by Bausch + Lomb for $9.10 per NASDAQ:ISTA share prompted an investigation for investors in ISTA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISTA) shares concerning whether the offer to acquire ISTA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and the buyout process are unfair to investors in NASDAQ:ISTA shares.

The investigations by law firms concern whether certain officers and directors of ISTA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. breached their fiduciary duties owed to NASDAQ:ISTA investors in connection with the proposed acquisition.

On Monday, March 26, 2012, after the market closed, Bausch + Lomb and ISTA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISTA) announced that they have signed an agreement under which Bausch + Lomb will acquire ISTA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for $9.10 per share in cash, or a total of approximately $500 million.

Bausch + Lomb and ISTA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. said the $9.10offer represents a 10% premium to the share price as of the market close on March 23, 2012, a 40% premium to the proposal letter ISTA publicly confirmed it received from Valeant Pharmaceuticals and a 134% premium to the share price on December 15, 2011, the trading day prior to ISTA's announcement of the proposal letter it received from Valeant Pharmaceuticals and the ISTA board's announcement of its intention to review strategic options.

However, NASDAQ:ISTA traded in May 2011 as high as $11.26 per share and at least one analyst has set the high target price for NASDAQ:ISTA shares at $12 per share, thus both well above the $9.10offer.

Therefore the investigation for NASDAQ:ISTA investors concerns whether the ISTA Pharmaceuticals Board of Directors failed to undertake an adequate sales process, failed to maximize shareholder value in negotiating the best price, and failed to act in the shareholders' best interests in connection with the sale process to Bausch + Lomb.