Sard Verbinnen & Co. is handling media for San Diego-based biotechnology company Illumina, which has received a hostile $5.7B takeover bid from Switzerland’s Roche Holding.
The $44.50 per-share offer is a sweetened deal from Roche’s $40 per-share price offered earlier this month. Illumnia had been trading at $37.69 just prior to the revised bid by Roche.
Illumina’s board promises to review Roche’s proposal, but urges shareholders to take no action at the present time. It is consulting with financial advisors Goldman Sachs and Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch plus law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf.
Roche terms its all-cash offer as a “full and fair” one and remains open to engage in a constructive dialog with Illumina’s management.
SV’s Cassandra Bujarski and Matt Benson are working the business.