2021年7月，欧盟对拟议收购启动调查。Illumina和Grail在调查仍在进行时完成了交易，这迫使欧盟委员会于2021年10月采取临时措施，确保两家公司在调查结果出来之前仍然是独立的实体的调查。Cancer detection product supplier Grail, spun off from life science company Illumina, debuted on Nasdaq on Tuesday.
Grail, a cancer detection product supplier spun off from life science company Illumina (ILMN.US), debuted on Nasdaq on Tuesday according to the WiseNews financial app.
According to reports, in September 2020, Illumina acquired Grail for $8 billion in cash and stock. However, due to potential anti-monopoly violations, the transaction was quickly strongly opposed by regulatory agencies. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint in March 2021 to block the acquisition.
In July 2021, the European Union launched an investigation into the proposed acquisition. Illumina and Grail completed the transaction while the investigation was still ongoing, which forced the European Commission to take interim measures in October 2021 to ensure that the two companies remained independent entities pending the results of the investigation.
Finally, in September 2022, the European Commission banned the acquisition and informed Illumina in December of last year that it must "cancel the acquisition of Grail" to make the ban fully effective.
In April of this year, Illumina's plan to divest / be forced to abandon the acquisition of Grail was officially approved by the European Commission. Earlier this month, Illumina's board of directors approved the separation process for Grail, and Grail is expected to be spun off from Illumina on June 24. In addition, Illumina's board of directors announced that it will retain 14.5% of Grail's shares (which is the upper limit allowed by the European Union), and at least 85.5% of the remaining shares will be distributed free of charge to all Illumina shareholders.
