European Court Rules In Favor Of Illumina In Fight Against Probe Into Grail Deal, Asks Not To Pay $478M Fine

Provider of DNA sequencing and array-based technologies, Illumina, Inc. ILMN said it welcomes the European Court of Justice’s (ECJ’s) judgment ruling that the European Commission did not have jurisdiction over Illumina’s acquisition of GRAIL.

The judgment confirms Illumina’s longstanding view that the European Commission exceeded its authority by asserting jurisdiction over this merger.

The basis for the $476.96 million (432 million euro) fine has been removed and will no longer be payable.

Following Illumina’s spinoff of GRAIL Inc GRAL in June 2024, GRAIL is now an independent public company.

Nearly four years after pitching for Grail, Illumina finally separated the cancer blood test developer. 

In July 2021, Illumina said it was committed to re-acquiring Grail. Illumina maintains a minority share of 14.5% in GRAIL.

“The Commission is not authorized to encourage or accept referrals of proposed concentrations without a European dimension from national competition authorities where those authorities are not competent to examine those proposed concentrations under their own national law,” Reuters highlighted, citing CJEU judges.

In the U.S., the FTC Commissioners dismissed the case against Illumina and GRAIL on August 15, 2024, following the spinoff of GRAIL, thus ending the US proceedings.

In a setback for EU antitrust regulators, in March, an adviser to Europe’s top court criticized the decision to block Illumina’s $7.1 billion bid for Grail, stating that they exceeded their powers. 

Following requests from several EU countries, the European Commission invoked Article 22 in 2021 to assess the Illumina-Grail deal despite it falling below the EU merger revenue threshold. 

In July, Illumina acquired Fluent BioSciences to expand its reach in single-cell analysis and multiomics research for an undisclosed consideration.

Price Action: ILMN stock is up 1.11% at $132.86 at the last check on Tuesday.

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