Roche Bid for Life’s Sequencing Business as Part of Sigma Offer
Roche’s latest effort to buy a sequencing company came a year after its hostile bid to acquire Illumina (see IBO 4/30/12), indicating its commitment to invest in sequencing technology. However, following the failure of Sigma’s offer for Life, Roche announced the dissolution of its Applied Science business, which included its sequencing business, and the creation of a separate sequencing unit (see IBO 4/30/13), suggesting a new strategy.
New York, NY 5/21/13; Washington, DC 5/21/13—Reuters has confirmed that Sigma-Aldrich and Roche partnered to bid for the purchase of Life Technologies (see IBO 4/15/13, 4/30/13), with Roche planning to acquire Life’s sequencing business. In Life’s SEC proxy filing for the acquisition (in which Strategic Party A is Sigma and Strategic Party B is Roche, according to Reuters sources), Life reviewed Sigma’s acquisition proposal based on the assumption that Roche would acquire the sequencing business. Initially, Sigma and Roche held separate discussions with Life. The filing also revealed that on April 13 Thermo raised its offer for Life to $76 per share in cash, up from an offer of $73 per share on April 12, after which the companies executed an exclusivity agreement. Later in the day on April 13, Sigma submitted an offer of $76 per share in cash and stock, up from its April 12th offer of $75, and also included new provisions. In choosing Thermo’s offer, Life cited the consideration mix, agreement provisions and Thermo’s size and financial strength as a company, according to the filing.
