Illumina And GRAIL Fined For Completing Acquisition Before European Commission's Approval

(RTTNews) - Illumina, Inc. (ILMN) and GRAIL have been fined about 432 million euros and 1,000 euros respectively for implementing their proposed merger before getting clearance from the European Commission, the Commission said in a statement.

In September 2022, the Commission had blocked the transaction over concerns of curtailing competition and lesser choice in the market of blood-based early cancer detection tests.

However, in August 2021, the companies completed the transaction by GRAIL merging with two subsidiaries of Illumina and Illumina paying off GRAIL shareholders.

"In today's decision, the Commission confirms its preliminary view that Illumina and GRAIL intentionally breached the standstill obligation. The Commission found that by closing the transaction Illumina was able to exercise a decisive influence over GRAIL and it actually exercised it." the Commission said.