Bausch & Lomb could go public as early as the end of this year, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the company's thinking.

The eye-care company's Chief Executive Brent Saunders told Reuters last October that he was setting sights on an IPO for the company "in the next couple of years."

Bausch & Lomb and its private equity owner Warburg Pincus declined to comment.

Previously traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the Rochester, New York-based company was acquired for $4.5 billion by Warburg Pincus in late 2007 after falling out of Wall Street's favor because of product recalls, big charges and restatements of earnings.

Bausch & Lomb agreed to buy Ista Pharmaceuticals Inc in March for about $500 million in cash to broaden its portfolio of eye health products.