Roche Pounces On Market-Weakened Illumina

Roche’s $5.7 billion hostile takeover offer for Illumina is opportunistic as well as strategic. It is a validation of Illumina’s long-term growth potential but also takes advantage of a depressed stock price due to the global economic slowdown and cutbacks in government funding that have hurt Illumina and other providers of gene sequencing instrumentation.

When Illumina Inc. chairman William Rastetter, PhD, got a call from Arthur Levinson, PhD, a Roche director, in November, it was ostensibly to discuss a Roche equity investment in Illumina and ways the companies could work together in the area of genetic sequencing. But according to SEC filings, when Rastetter and Illumina president & CEO Jay Flatley met Levinson and Roche chairman Franz Humer face to face a month later, they discovered Roche instead wanted to buy their company outright. Three weeks later, Roche made a $40 per share proposal, which it subsequently increased to $44.50 per share, or approximately $5.7 billion. Illumina rejected the bid and Roche has initiated a hostile tender offer for Illumina’s shares. [See Deal] But unlike some prior multi-billion-dollar takeovers where Roche haggled over price for more than half a year, in this case, it may be wise for it to seal the deal more quickly.

Roche’s interest is strategic, but also opportunistic. Like other providers of gene sequencing instrumentation, the global economic slowdown and cutbacks...

More from Deal-Making

Bringing Israeli Medical Device Candidates To The Right Partners In The US

 
• By 

Despite regional unrest, it is business as usual for medtech innovators and investors in Israel as evidenced by continued high-value M&A of locally developed technologies. Irit Yaniv, co-chair of the medtech session at the upcoming BioMed Israel 2025, explained the unique dynamics of Israeli medtech innovation.

Deals In Depth: April 2025

 
• By 

Four $1bn+ alliances were penned in April, and one exceeded $2bn.

Deals Shaping The Industry, April 2025

 
• By 

An interactive look at pharma, medtech and diagnostics deals made during April 2025. Data courtesy of Biomedtracker.

Protagonist’s Patel: Building A Differentiated Peptide Platform With Strategic Patience

 
• By 

After revolutionizing the peptide therapeutic landscape, CEO Dinesh Patel reflects on the journey from surviving the 2008 financial crisis to developing a platform now poised to deliver back-to-back blockbuster approvals.

More from In Vivo

AI In Health Delivery: Patients Most Confident When HCPs Are In Charge

 
• By 

Annual survey of patients and professionals shows how attitudes to health system transformation are evolving and what stakeholders are demanding as acceptance of AI tools accelerates.

Medtech Innovators Court London-Based Investors At BioWales 2025

 
• By 

BioWales in London 2025 showcased the efforts healthtech innovators are making to meet investors on their own turf, illustrating changing attitudes and evolving needs.

Rising Leaders 2025: Metsera’s Whit Bernard’s Musical Path To Biotech Leadership

 
• By 

Metsera CEO Whit Bernard applies an unconventional leadership philosophy to develop next-generation obesity therapeutics, including monthly GLP-1 injections and oral peptides.