PE Biosystems, Third Wave terminate merger

The companies mutually terminated their previously announced merger, under which PEB was to acquire nucleic acid detection company Third Wave (Madison, Wis.) for 3.94 million shares (adjusted for a 2-for-1 PEB stock split in February) valued at $331 million (see BioCentury, Jan. 31). The companies plan to continue joint collaborations.

Since the original announcement of the merger, PEB's stock price had fallen 38 percent from $83.938 to Thursday's close of $52.25, which would value the deal at $205.9 million. PEB said that the decrease in stock price was not a factor in the termination decision. ...