ILMN Illumina Inc

By Micah Maidenberg

Illumina Inc. said Monday it has agreed to purchase Grail Inc. in a cash-and-stock deal that would give Illumina control of the developer of a blood test that aims to detect cancer in its early stages.

Grail was founded by Illumina in 2016 and spun out into a separate company, Illumina said. The company had raised about $2 billion to support its technology platform and the Galleri tool. Galleri, the cancer testing platform that analyzes patients' blood, is expected to launch next year commercially.

Illumina said it will pay $3.5 billion in cash and provide $4.5 billion in its common stock to Grail shareholders to complete the transaction. Illumina currently owns 12% of Grail shares on a fully diluted basis.

The so-called "collar" on the stock portion of the planned acquisition will ensure the Grail stockholders receive Illumina shares that are equal to about $4 billion in value, the companies said.

The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that Illumina's acquisition for Grail was imminent.

"As we accelerate our path to clinical leadership and the path to multi-cancer early detection, we will continue to drive significant value creation for our stockholders," Illumina Chief Executive Francis deSouza said in a statement.

Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 21, 2020 07:36 ET (11:36 GMT)

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