Scalper1 News
Genetic-analysis company Affymetrix ( AFFX ) on Sunday rejected a $1.5 billion, $16.10 a share offer from Origin Technologies, saying it will stick with its planned $14-a-share takeover by Thermo Scientific ( TMO ). Shares of Affymetrix hit an eight-year high Friday on Origin’s offer, soaring 14% to 15.99 on the stock market that day. Barring another bid, shares are likely to tumble Mondy back to around 14, where they have traded since Affymetrix agreed to Thermo Scientific’s offer on Jan. 8. Affymetrix said “Origin appears to be a newly-formed shell entity with no assets of which Affymetrix is aware, and whose sole source of funding for the proposed transaction is $1.5 billion in potential debt commitments.” That would be “materially short” of the funds needed to actually complete the deal, said Affymetrix, citing share compensation, a termination fee for Thermo Scientific and other items. Origin Technologies was formed by a group of ex-Affymetrix executives with the purpose of buying the company. Origin President Wei Zhou, a former senior vice president at Affymetrix, also started genomics company Centrillion Technology in 2009. Wei and said that Origin has the option of combining with Centrillion after acquiring Affymetrix. Scalper1 News
Scalper1 News