Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) announced on Monday that it was acquiring prenatal testing company Verinata Health in a deal worth up to $450 million. Verinata is privately held.
Under the terms of the deal, Illumina will pay $350 million for Verinata and could pay up to an additional $100 million through 2015 if certain targets are met. The deal will be financed primarily through Illumina’s available cash.
The company said that it expects the transaction to lower its fiscal 2013 earnings by around 20 cents before becoming accretive in 2014 and beyond. Verinata Health is located in San Carlos, California while Illumina is based in San Diego.
Vernita’s prenatal tests are designed to detect birth defects such as Down’s syndrome, Edwards syndrome and Patau syndrome. Illumina is a life sciences and diagnostics health technology company with a current market cap of roughly $6.3 billion.
On Monday, the shares were trading down around seven percent to $51.00 as investors are showing some concern about the earnings hit the company will take in fiscal 2013 as a result of the Vernita acquisition.
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