Roche tender offer for Ventana ‘is wholly inadequate’

The board of tissue-based cancer diagnostics firm Ventana Medical Systems has responded to an extension of the unsolicited tender offer for all outstanding shares in the firm by Roche, describing the renewed bid as inadequate and recommending its rejection by shareholders.

Earlier this week, Roche announced an extension of its offer to purchase Ventana Medical Systems from to September 20th 2007, ahead of the previously-scheduled expiration of the offer on August 23rd 2007.

Other terms of the offer – including the value of $75 per share in cash – have remained the same, with Roche reporting that this price represents a 44 per cent premium on the closing price of the shares on June 22nd 2007.

A company statement from Ventana noted: “We remain steadfast in our position that Roche’s offer is wholly inadequate and our board of directors continues to recommend that stockholders not tender any of their shares to Roche.”

It continued, noting that the offer from Roche is below the current stock price of the company, with Ventana contending that this proves the offer does not adequately reflect the inbuilt value of the firm and the potential revenue realisable through synergies following any merger.

Roche notes that around 13,430 shares in Ventana have been tendered following its original offer.