By Donald Zuhn --
Last summer, we reported that Roche had made an offer to acquire Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. for $75 per share, or approximately $3 billion. In response, Ventana's Board of Directors announced that it had determined that Roche's offer was "inadequate in multiple respects and contrary to the best interests of Ventana's stockholders," and therefore, was recommending that its stockholders not tender their shares to Roche. Since July, Roche has extended its tender offer four times, and following Roche's fourth extension in October, Ventana announced that more than 99.5% of its investors had turned down Roche's overtures.
On the heels of Roche's fourth extension, Ventana released a statement on Tuesday that it had entered into a confidentiality agreement with Roche which "will allow Roche to commence due diligence and have appropriate access to non-public information regarding Ventana to better understand the Company's business prospects and the inherent value in companion diagnostics." Ventana's Board of Directors took the opportunity to reiterate that Roche's $75 offer was "grossly inadequate . . . as reflected by that fact that Ventana's share price has consistently traded well above Roche's offer and our stockholders have overwhelmingly rejected that offer four times."
Reuters reported today that, according to some analysts, Ventana could be worth as much as $90 per share as a stand-alone business, and therefore, that Roche may have to increase its bid to $100 if it intends to close the deal. Ventana's stock closed at $88.94 on Wednesday.
Ventana's patent portfolio includes at least 51 U.S. patents and 36 U.S. patent application publications.
For additional information regarding this topic, please see:
- Roche's press release regarding the confidentiality agreement
- "Ventana's Board Urges Stockholders Not to Tender Their Shares; Roche Responds," July 11, 2007
- "Roche's Bid for Ventana Medical Systems Hits Snag," July 10, 2007
- "Roche Commences Tender Offer for Ventana Medical Systems," June 27, 2007
- "Roche Makes Offer to Acquire Ventana Medical Systems," June 26, 2007
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