Roche makes hostile bid for Illumina
Roche (SIX:ROG; OTCQX:RHHBY) made an unsolicited offer to acquire sequencing and microarray company Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) for $44.50 per share, or about $5.7 billion in cash. The price is an 18% premium to Illumina's close of $37.69 on Tuesday, before the offer was announced. Roche said the offer is a 64% premium to Illumina's close of $27.17 on Dec. 21, before rumors surfaced of a potential takeout. Roche approached Illumina privately in December to negotiate a deal, but the pharma said Illumina was unwilling. The Swiss company plans to nominate a slate of independent candidates for election to Illumina's board at the biotech's 2012 annual meeting, which has yet to be scheduled.
Roche said the acquisition would strengthen its position in sequencing and microarrays to meet the growing demand for genetic and genomics solutions. Roche added that its global infrastructure and sales force would expand Illumina's products to the broader life science and diagnostic markets. The pharma would combine Illumina with its Applied Science business. Illumina recorded 2010 revenue of $902.7 million. ...