Ventana rejects Roche takeover bid
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Tissue-based diagnostics firm Ventana rejects Roche's $3 billion hostile takeover bid as "inadequate" July 11. Roche, which hopes to pair the technology with its targeted cancer drugs for advanced personalized medicine, had announced the offer June 25. The diversified drug and diagnostics giant responded to Ventana's dismissal of the offer in a same-day letter, stating that if there is "additional information that would support a valuation in excess of our offer, we would be willing to consider it in a negotiation." Roche adds that if a negotiated transaction is not possible, it will continue with its $75-per-share cash tender offer, launched June 27, and consider taking the issue directly to Ventana's shareholders at the firm's 2008 annual meeting. "Such action may include the nomination of new directors to Ventana's board and/or proposals to amend Ventana's bylaws," Roche says (1"The Gray Sheet" July 2, 2007, p. 10)...