Tag Archives: affx

Affymetrix Rejects $1.5 Billion Origin Offer; Stock Likely To Dive

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.

Affymetrix Vaults To 8-year High After Receiving Rival Takeover Bid

Shares of genetic-analysis company Affymetrix ( AFFX ) jumped to an eight-year high in midday trading Friday after receiving a rival bid for its proposed $1.3 billion sale to  Thermo Fisher Scientific ( TMO ). A newly created company called Origin Technologies, led by a group of former Affymetrix executives, offered $16.10 a share in cash for the company, topping the $14-a-share offer that Affymetrix accepted back on Jan. 8. Origin’s President Wei Zhou, a former senior vice president at Affymetrix, also started up genomics company Centrillion Technology back in 2009, and said that Origin has the option of combining with Centrillion after acquiring Affymetrix. “Should Origin ultimately combine with Centrillion, Origin-owned Affymetrix and Centrillion would offer an unparalleled range of microarray and DNA-sequencing technology products and services for customers,” said Origin’s press release. Affymetrix stock had been trading near 14 since the Thermo Fisher deal was announced. When Origin’s press release came out at noon Friday, the stock popped 14% to around 16. Thermo Fisher stock was up about 1.5% in midday trading on the stock market today . Thermo Fisher is trading within 2% of its all-time high, with a decent Relative Strength Rating of 74, though earnings and sales growth shrank to single digits last year. Affymetrix’s growth has also been in single digits lately, but Leerink analyst Dan Leonard wrote at the time of the deal that “Affymetrix’s growth could accelerate once the business leverages Thermo Fisher’s broader customer and geographic channels.” Affymetrix gets an IBD Composite Rating of 70 and Thermo Fisher a 75.