Roche Unsweetens Genentech Pot and Takes it to the Shareholders

Roche wants Genentech and it’s sick of waiting for a deal.

Six months after a special committee for the biotech firm’s board of directors rejected Roche’s offer of $43.7 billion or $89 a share, Roche has switched gears and dropped the offer to $86.50 per share and is taking negotiations to the stockholders.

“We are disappointed that the discussions over the last six months between Roche and the special committee of Genentech have not produced a negotiated agreement,” Roche Chairman Franz B. Humer stated in a release. “We feel it is now time to give the Genentech minority shareholders the opportunity to decide on our offer. Especially in the current market environment the offer provides an opportunity for all public shareholders to achieve liquidity and to receive a fair price for all their shares.”

Roche already owns 55 percent of Genentech and hopes to snag full control of its top cancer treatment Avastin. When the deal is approved, Roche plans to leave Genentech’s R&D division as a stand alone unit based in San Francisco. Meanwhile, Roche’s Nutley, New Jersey-based pharma commercial operations and Palto Alto-based virology division would be transplanted to SF. The Nutley branch will not be shuttered, instead it’s going to be turned into ground zero for Roche’s disease biology and metabolism units.

Roche plans to pay for the aquisition merger using a combination of cash, loans, and bonds.