Illumina on Monday announced that its board of directors is spinning off Grail and has applied to list the cancer diagnostics company on the Nasdaq.
DNA sequencing company Illumina announced Monday that its board of directors has approved the spinoff of cancer diagnostics firm Grail.
The spinoff process will be completed on June 24, 2024, and Grail will be listed on the Nasdaq with the ticker symbol GRAL. Grail is also anticipated to start stock trades toward the end of June.
Illumina will retain a minority share of 14.5% of Grail. Shareholders also net one share of Grail’s common stock for every six Illumina shares they hold. No other details on the spinout were immediately available.
Monday’s announcement was a bit of a surprise as Illumina seemed to be on the path to selling Grail, as the European Commission approved Illumina’s “restorative measures” to Grail’s independence in April 2024. However, at the time, no specific plans were disclosed by Illumina.
“Today’s announcement marks a milestone for Illumina and signals an important step forward for the company since the divestiture of Grail is one of our 2024 priorities,” CEO Jacob Thaysen said in a statement. “As we prepare to lead the next era of genomics innovation, we believe Grail will play an important role in advancing the industry and improving human health.”
Illumina’s saga with Grail started with an $8 billion acquisition offer back in 2020. However, the deal was put under the regulatory microscope in the U.S. by the Federal Trade Commission and the E.U., with the European Commission putting a pause on the agreement during its investigation. In 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission also started looking into the deal and requested documents and communications related to the acquisition.
Eventually, Illumina threw in the towel and agreed to divest from Grail after a U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision ruled that the acquisition was anti-competitive.
During the divestiture process, activist investor Carl Icahn launched several campaigns to remove members of Illumina’s board of directors and replace them with his own people. CEO Francis DeSouza also stepped down in 2023 amid the attacks.
Tyler Patchen is a staff writer at BioSpace. You can reach him at tyler.patchen@biospace.com. Follow him on LinkedIn.
