Affymetrix Delays Merger Vote
24 March 2016 - 4:10AM
Dow Jones News
Affymetrix Inc. on Wednesday postponed a vote on its proposed
tie-up with Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., saying a new unsolicited
bid from Origin Technologies Corp. could reasonably lead to a
superior proposal.
The company said that its board continues to recommend its
stockholders vote in favor of the merger agreement with Thermo
Fisher, and said it hasn't determined that the Origin proposal is
in fact a superior proposal. Affymetrix said the board recommends
against the Origin proposal.
The stockholder meeting scheduled for Thursday is now pushed
back a week to March 31.
On Tuesday, Origin—a newly formed entity owned by former
Affymetrix executives—raised its unsolicited offer for the
genetic-analysis company by 5.6% in another attempt to disrupt the
planned merger with Thermo Fisher.
Origin increased its all-cash offer to $17 a share, valuing
Affymetrix at about $1.58 billion and trumping its previous offer
of $16.10 a share. In January, Thermo Fisher agreed to buy
Affymetrix for about $14 a share, or roughly $1.3 billion, in a bid
to boost its biogenetic-analysis portfolio. The Thermo deal offered
a 52% premium to Affymetrix's stock price before the
announcement.
Affymetrix shares added 4.5% to $15.01 midday, suggesting some
shareholders are expecting any deal for Affymetrix will be higher
than Thermo's bid of $14.
On Wednesday, Thermo Fisher fired back at Origin, calling its
own proposal the only "bona fide" bid for Affymetrix
shareholders.
Thermo Fisher Chief Executive Marc Casper said their
transaction, which has been unanimously approved by both boards,
provides Affymetrix shareholders with a "significant premium, is
fully-financed and received all required regulatory approvals."
Evercore analyst Ross Muken said Origin's new bid complicates
matters, and Affymetrix's board is likely required to take it
seriously to comply with their fiduciary duty.
Write to Anne Steele at Anne.Steele@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 23, 2016 12:55 ET (16:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Affymetrix (NASDAQ:AFFX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2024 to Oct 2024
Affymetrix (NASDAQ:AFFX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Oct 2023 to Oct 2024