(Reuters) – An order from EU competition regulators for Illumina to sell cancer detection test maker Grail could come as early as next week, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
The U.S. life sciences company had completed its $7.1 billion takeover of Grail in August 2021, without securing the EU regulatory approval. The genetic testing company was fined a record 432 million euros ($476 million) by the EU earlier this year over the deal.
The timing of the order from Brussels could still slip, one of the people warned, according to the FT report.
The European Commission ordered Illumina last December to unwind the deal, three months after it had blocked the merger on concerns the deal would stifle innovation.
Illumina has been fighting the EU competition watchdog on several fronts since it was forced to seek its approval in 2021 despite the deal falling short of the EU turnover threshold for scrutiny.
The company intends to appeal any order to sell Grail, according to people familiar with the matter, FT reported.
Illumina declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also began investigation into Illumina’s acquisition of Grail in August, requesting documents related to the deal and certain statements and disclosures about the “conduct and compensation” of some members of the companies’ management.
Shares of the company fell nearly 1% in premarket trading.
(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K, Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Shweta Agarwal)
