Illumina-Grail $8B Saga Ends After It Battles Regulators For 3 Years

On Sunday, gene-sequencing company Illumina Inc ILMN agreed to divest cancer diagnostic test maker Grail Inc as the companies battled with the U.S. and European antitrust regulators for almost three years after announcing the acquisition.

In August 2021, in defiance of FTC and EU scrutiny, Illumina completed its $8 billion acquisition of Grail.

The divestiture will be executed through a third-party sale or capital markets transaction, consistent with the European Commission's divestiture order, to finalize the terms by the end of the second quarter of 2024.

On December 15, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its decision in Illumina v. the Federal Trade Commission.

After reviewing the Court's opinion, Illumina has elected not to pursue further appeals of the Fifth Circuit's decision. 

In April, The Fed­er­al Trade Com­mis­sion or­dered Il­lu­mi­na to di­vest Grail, saying that the deal would stifle competition and innovation in the U.S. market for cancer tests.

As the company has previously stated, if it were unsuccessful with either its European Court of Justice jurisdictional appeal or in a final decision of the Fifth Circuit, it would divest GRAIL.

Grail will continue to be held separately with committed funding from Illumina for Grail's business through the divestment process, the company said in a statement.

In July, Illumina was fined a record €432 million by the European Union for closing its takeover of Grail before securing EU antitrust approval.

Illumina's former CEO Francis deSouza resigned as the company had been locked in a proxy battle with activist investor Carl Icahn over its $7.1 billion acquisition of cancer test maker Grail, which has faced regulatory hurdles. 

Price Action: ILMN shares are up 1.46% at $128.95 on the last check Monday.