Illumina Fights Curbs on Grail Deal Closed Without EU Nod

(Bloomberg) -- Illumina Inc. is challenging European Union curbs on its acquisition of cancer-test provider Grail Inc., which went ahead before getting the nod from regulators.

Illumina last week appealed a European Commission order that put implementation of the deal on ice until antitrust officials have vetted the takeover, the company said on Tuesday. The challenge was filed at the EU’s General Court, according to the Luxembourg-based tribunal’s website.

“Illumina is appealing the commission’s interim measures order because the commission has asserted jurisdiction over a transaction between two American companies with no foreseeable impact on competition in Europe and, in doing so, is threatening to deny Europe faster access to this life-saving technology,” the company said in an emailed statement.

The case marked the first time the EU imposed interim measures on companies for jumping the gun on mergers. The curbs, which are binding, prevent Illumina and Grail from sharing confidential information, impose that Grail be kept separate from Illumina and oblige Grail to “actively work on alternative options” in case the EU blocks the deal, according to the commission statement.

Illumina has said the EU commission doesn’t have jurisdiction over the transaction and that Grail has no business in the EU. It’s Illumina’s second court case over the deal. The same tribunal will on Dec. 16 hear arguments in an earlier challenge to topple the commission’s decision to examine the deal.

Illumina said it’s “already committed to hold Grail as a separate entity during the commission’s review, as well as to guarantee customers the same rights and access as Grail to Illumina’s latest sequencing products and support, at the same prices Grail,” according to the statement.

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