Illumina and Pacific Biosciences announced they have mutually agreed to terminate their merger agreement, previously announced on November 1, 2018, under which Illumina would acquire Pacific Biosciences at a fully diluted enterprise value of approximately $1.2 billion in an all-cash transaction.
Considering the lengthy regulatory approval process the transaction has already been subject to and continued uncertainty of the ultimate outcome, the parties decided that terminating the agreement is in the best interest of their respective shareholders and employees. In accordance with the merger agreement, Illumina will pay Pacific Biosciences a termination fee of $98 million.
“We believe this proposed combination would have broadened access to Pacific Biosciences sequencing technology, significantly expanded and accelerated innovation, and ultimately increased the clinical utility and impact of sequencing,” said Francis deSouza, President and Chief Executive Officer of Illumina. “I’d like to thank our employees, as well as the Pacific Biosciences team, for their unwavering dedication and commitment throughout this process. Moving forward, we will continue to look for ways to increase the impact and benefit of sequencing technologies for researchers, clinicians, and most importantly, patients.”
“We are disappointed that our customers and other stakeholders will not realize the powerful advantages of integrating the sequencing capabilities of our two companies,” said Michael Hunkapiller, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Biosciences. “With that said, we are confident in the future of Pacific Biosciences as we continue to pursue improved sequencing accuracy and throughput that can be utilized in an ever-expanding number of applications.”