Alcon on Tuesday announced that five Novartis nominees have been elected to join the board of Alcon.

The nominees, who will replace directors nominated by Nestlé.

will join Alcon after Novartis completes its acquisition of an additional 52 percent stake in the company.

which is expected in the third or fourth quarter of this year.

Alcon's independent director committee (IDC) noted that approximately 91 percent of the shares owned by minority shareholders.

were voted against the Novartis designees.

However, Nestlé's vote in favour of the conditional election of the Novartis designees.

was required under the purchasing agreement entered into by the two companies.

Chairman of the IDC, Thomas Plaskett, noted that "

any director designated to the Alcon board by Novartis faces an obvious conflict of interest with respect to the Novartis merger proposal.

" He added that "

minority shareholders, despite knowing that their votes could not alter the outcome…have nonetheless used their vote to clearly communicate.

their resolve to fight Novartis' attempted coercive approach, as well as their steadfast commitment to receiving fair value for their shares."

Alcon noted that nominees Enrico Vanni and Norman Walker will serve terms ending in 2011.

 Paul Choffat will serve a term ending in 2012, while Urs Baerlocher and Jacques Seydoux were elected to terms that expire in 2013.