Carl Icahn Steps Up Battle With Illumina, Says Directors Asked Additional Insurance For Grail Deal

Activist Carl Icahn reportedly accused Illumina Inc ILMN directors of demanding extra personal liability insurance before agreeing to close the $8 billion purchase of cancer screening company Grail Inc as regulators were against the deal.
The claim is contained in the latest salvo of criticisms levied by the activist investor against the genome sequencing company.
In a letter to Illumina shareholders, as seen by the Financial Times, Icahn alleges that Illumina directors required a commitment for an "unprecedented level of additional personal liability insurance" protection just before closing the deal.
He said: "This smells strongly to us like a quid pro quo — a group of trepidatious directors were dragged reluctantly, kicking and screaming, by management into an extremely risky deal and ultimately conditioned their approval upon receiving an even thicker blanket of immunity than the extremely luxuriant comforter which they already possessed."
The purchase of additional insurance for directors was disclosed in an SEC regulatory filing after being buried for months in hopes that no one would find out, Icahn alleged.
Illumina rejected Icahn's allegations and said, "Illumina operates transparently with strong corporate governance."
Carl Icahn is engaged in a proxy fight at Illumina, saying the company went ahead with the controversial acquisition of Grail Inc despite opposition from regulators, costing shareholders $50 billion.
Price Action: ILMN shares are up 0.11% at $217.18 premarket on the last check Friday.

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