Illumina to pay $7.1 billion for cancer test developer Grail: WSJ

(Reuters) – Gene sequencing company Illumina Inc will pay $7.1 billion in cash and stock to buy cancer test startup Grail Inc, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Grail, which is developing a blood test to identify early-stage cancers, was founded by Illumina as a separate company in 2016 and is backed by Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates.

The deal for Grail, in which Illumina is the biggest shareholder with a 14.6% stake, is expected to be announced on Monday, according to the report https://www.wsj.com/articles/sequencing-firm-illumina-to-pay-7-1-billion-for-liquid-biopsy-firm-grail-11600682402?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=3.

The company earlier this month filed for a U.S. initial public offering, without disclosing the offering size.

Grail owners excluding Illumina will get $3.1 billion in cash and shares in the gene-sequencer maker worth the remaining $4 billion, the report said.

Both Illumina and Grail did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

Bloomberg News reported last week Illumina was nearing a deal for Grail.

(Reporting by Manojna Maddipatla in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)