Illumina to Acquire Cancer Diagnostics Start-up Grail

Gene-sequencing giant Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) confirmed last week's rumor that it's buying Grail, a start-up working on early detection of cancer using DNA analysis of blood samples, in a deal worth $8 billion. Grail was founded by Illumina in 2016, spun off as an independent company, and has raised $1.9 billion in four rounds of private equity.

Grail had announced its intention to launch an initial public offering in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 9 but apparently felt Illumina's offer was better for its investors, which include Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Microsoft's co-founder Bill Gates. Illumina is paying $3.5 billion in cash and $4.5 billion in Illumina stock for the 85.5% of Grail shares it doesn't already own. Based on the current Illumina share price, Grail shareholders will own 8.3% of the combined company when the deal closes, which isn't expected to happen until the second half of 2021.

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Source Fool.com