Roche extends its 'full and fair' tender offer for Ventana

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C, July 26 - Roche extended its tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. to 5 p.m. ET on Aug. 23. The offer, which began on June 27, was previously scheduled to expire at midnight ET on July 26. All other terms and conditions of the tender offer remain unchanged, according to a company news release.

Some 9,936 shares have been tendered in the $75-per-share offer as of July 25.

As previously reported, Ventana's board rejected Roche's offer, calling it "inadequate" and "contrary to the best interests" of its shareholders. Shareholders were urged to not tender their shares. The offer values Ventana at a price below recent trading levels, the company said.

Ventana closed at $80.25 (Nasdaq: VMSI) on July 10 when the offer was rejected. The stock closed at $83.99 on July 25.

Roche, however, called its $3 billion offer "full and fair" and said it is committed to bringing the two companies together. Should Ventana refuse to negotiate, Roche said it will continue to pursue a transaction unilaterally.

Ventana is a medical device company located in Tucson. Roche is a Basel, Switzerland pharmaceutical and diagnostics company.

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