NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Thermo Fisher Scientific announced today that it has completed its anticipated acquisition of Affymetrix for $14.00 per share in cash, for a total purchase price of approximately $1.3 billion, following approval of the merger agreement by Affy stockholders at a special meeting.
The merger, which was initially announced in January, went forward despite two weeks of upheaval, beginning with a competing bid by a new company formed by formed Affy executives — Origin Technologies — on March 18. After its first bid was rejected, Origin followed with a second, higher offer, which Affy also rejected this week. Origin then withdrew.
Following this, the law firm of Faruqi & Faruqi announced yesterday that it had filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of Affy's shareholders in connection with the proposed sale to Thermo Fisher.
But despite the disruptions, the shareholders voted in a planned meeting today to go forward with the acquisition.
"We are pleased to announce the completion of this transaction and officially welcome the Affymetrix team," Thermo Fisher President and CEO Marc Casper said in a statement. He further added that the acquisition is a positive development for both companies, and it has given Thermo Fisher an expanded antibody portfolio that strengthens its leadership in the biosciences space, as well as "new genetic analysis capabilities to better serve clinical and applied markets."
"Our combined capabilities will benefit our customers, employees and shareholders, and we are excited to move forward as one organization positioned for growth," he said.
As a result of the completion of the transaction, Affymetrix stock will cease trading and will no longer be listed on the Nasdaq.
Shares of Thermo Fisher were up about half a percent at $141.50 in Thursday afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.