Il­lu­mi­na's $1.2B buy­out dies amid FTC 'mo­nop­o­list' ac­cu­sa­tion

Il­lu­mi­na’s $1.2 bil­lion buy­out of Pa­cif­ic Bio­sciences is dead.

The two DNA se­quenc­ing com­pa­nies of­fi­cial­ly tore up their merg­er agree­ment less than a month af­ter the Fed­er­al Trade Com­mis­sion blocked the deal in a sur­pris­ing and strong­ly-word­ed state­ment that deemed Il­lu­mi­na a “mo­nop­o­list” who was try­ing to so­lid­i­fy its long-term hold on the mar­ket by quash­ing a “nascent com­pet­i­tive threat.”

“When a mo­nop­o­list buys a po­ten­tial ri­val, it can harm com­pe­ti­tion,” Gail Levine, FTC’s Bu­reau of Com­pe­ti­tion deputy di­rec­tor, said at the time. “These deals help mo­nop­o­lists main­tain pow­er. That’s why we’re chal­leng­ing this ac­qui­si­tion.”

Unlock this article instantly by becoming a free subscriber.

You’ll get access to free articles each month, plus you can customize what newsletters get delivered to your inbox each week, including breaking news.

SIGN UP LOG IN BECOME A PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER