Pacific Biosciences, Illumina cancel USD 1.2 billion deal

Gene sequencing company Illumina would pay Pacific Biosciences $98 million for the terminated deal, which was announced in 2018 and had attracted scrutiny from antitrust authorities in the United States and UK, both the companies said in a joint statement.

New Delhi: Illumina Inc on Thursday agreed to terminate the $1.2 billion deal to buy smaller rival Pacific Biosciences of California Inc, weeks after the U.S. competition watchdog filed a complaint to block the purchase.

Gene sequencing company Illumina would pay Pacific Biosciences $98 million for the terminated deal, which was announced in 2018 and had attracted scrutiny from antitrust authorities in the United States and UK, both the companies said in a joint statement.

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Illumina is a major player in the nascent gene sequencing space, which involves analyzing the genome, and can among other uses, identify inherited disorders and markers of disease progression.

In its complaint last month, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission raised concerns that Illumina wanted the deal in order to prevent Pacific Biosciences from developing into a competitor in the market for next-generation DNA sequencing.

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