Carl Icahn, president of Icahn Enterprises Holdings
Scott Elis | Bloomberg | Getty Images
said Carl Icahn on Wednesday Illuminaefforts to appeal the Federal Trade Commission’s order to divest the heavily contested Grail acquisition “is an almost unimaginable battle.”
Illumina on Monday told CNBC it intended to appeal the FTC’s order in federal court and would seek an expedited decision. This appeal will come at ‘great cost’ to DNA sequencing company, activist-investor argued in his latest open letter shareholders.
“Our primary concern as a big shareholder is that this multi-year battle will devour hordes of money and last for years, luxuries that Illumina doesn’t have,” wrote Icahn, who owns a 1.4% stake in Illumina.
The corporate’s market value has already dropped to about $36 billion from about $75 billion in August 2021, the month it closed its acquisition of cancer test maker Grail.
Icahn launched a proxy fight over the Grail deal last month, in search of seats on Illumina’s board of directors and forcing the corporate to terminate the deal. It shares common ground with the FTC, which argued in its order that the $7.1 billion deal would stifle competition and innovation.
An FTC order overrules an administrative judge’s order September a ruling that rejected the committee’s initial challenge to the Grail Agreement.
In his letter, Icahn highlighted Illumina’s “long history” of addressing regulatory challenges surrounding the acquisition.
Last 12 months, the corporate appealed an identical order from European Union regulators to terminate the Grail deal. The EU executive, the European Commission, in September blocked Acquisition of Illumina due to concerns that it could hurt consumer alternative and innovation.
San Diego-based Illumina expects a choice on its appeal against the European Commission and FTC orders in late 2023 or early 2024.
The corporate on Wednesday said in an announcement to CNBC that it had “strong arguments to appeal” against the FTC order. He indicated how he prevailed over the commission last 12 months.
Illumina also pulled out of the last order.
“The FTC’s decision violates legal precedent and is inconsistent with the overwhelming evidence that the reunion of Illumina and GRAIL will promote competition and save lives,” Illumina told CNBC.
Illumina stock closed relatively flat Wednesday afternoon.
More punches to the CEO of Illumina
Icahn snapped more photos of Illumina CEO Francis deSouza on Wednesday after criticism of the CEO — and his pay raises — intensified last week.
The investor claimed that deSouza “had allowed our potentially great company to fail.
“His shareholder-funded GRAIL adventure is a desperate Hail Mary-style takeover attempt to reverse the declining fortunes of Illumina,” Icahn wrote.
He added that the Grail deal is deSouza’s “second major M&A failure” since he took over as CEO in 2016. In 2020, Illumina canceled a $1.2 billion merger from Pacific Biosciences of California after the FTC challenged the acquisition.
Icahn reiterated his call for Illumina to replace deSouza with former company CEO Jay Flatley or “another person on his level.”
Last week, Icahn said the corporate needed “someone who knows what they’re doing to sort things.”