BioCentury
ARTICLE | Deals

Grail chooses Illumina takeout over IPO, promising more future returns for shareholders

Illumina regains full control of Grail as the cancer screening company gets ready to enter the market next year

September 22, 2020 1:14 AM UTC

Rather than going public as planned, early cancer detection company Grail chose to be acquired by Illumina in a deal that will provide immediate returns to the outside investors that backed its spinout while allowing them to participate in the company’s upside as it looks to enter the market next year.

Investors initially frowned on the deal, however, driving Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) shares down 9% Monday before they recovered later in the week. Rumors that the acquisition was nigh had already dented the next-generation sequencing (NGS) company’s value last week...

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