Roche completes Ventana acquisition

Swiss drugs and diagnostics major Roche has completed the tender offer for the outstanding shares of US diagnostics firm Ventana Medical System, concluding its battle to acquire the firm for an increased bid of $75 a share (Marketletters passim. As of the expiration of the subsequent offering period, Rocket Acquisition Corp, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Roche, had purchased a total of around 34,545,323 shares of Ventana common stock, representing some 93.7% of the firm's outstanding shares.

Roche expects to complete the acquisition on February19 through a short-form merger, without a vote or meeting of Ventana's shareholders. Following the merger, Ventana's common stock will cease to be traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.