NEW YORK – Shares of proteomics firm Olink dropped more than 8 percent in Tuesday afternoon trading on the Nasdaq after the company disclosed that German regulators are further investigating its pending $3.1 billion acquisition by Thermo Fisher Scientific.
According to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, Olink said that the German Bundeskartellamt, the country’s competition regulatory agency, has advised Thermo Fisher that it is conducting a Phase 2 review of the pending acquisition.
Oink said it currently expects the review to be completed by mid-2024, which is consistent with the expected timeline of other ongoing regulatory reviews, including an additional review by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) that kicked off in December.
Thermo Fisher announced in October 2023 that it plans to acquire the Swedish company for $26.00 per share in cash.
According to the German Bundeskartellamt website, the agency initially has one month to examine the merger in the so-called first-phase review. However, if the agency considers a further examination to be necessary, a formal examination, or a Phase 2 review, is initiated.