2023-07-12 06:36:54 ET
- The European Commission on Wednesday imposed a fine of approximately €432M ($475M) on the U.S. gene sequencing company Illumina ( NASDAQ: ILMN ) for completing its acquisition of cancer-screening company GRAIL without regulatory approval. Separately, GRAIL faces a €1K fine.
- In August 2021, Illumina ( ILMN ) closed the GRAIL acquisition while the European Commission’s review of the $7.1B deal was underway.
- "This is an unprecedented and very serious infringement undermining the effective functioning of the EU merger control system," the commission said.
- Last month, Francis deSouza , the former CEO of Illumina, resigned from his position amid activist pressure from billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who faulted the company for closing the GRAIL deal despite regulatory concerns.
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Illumina fined $475M in EU for closing GRAIL acquisition