Roche wins round in battle for Ventana

Hostile takeovers are no fun to be part of but they're exciting to watch. Roche won the latest round in its bid for Ventana Medical Systems: An Arizona court granted an injunction against Ventana's use of anti-takeover statutes to block Roche's bid for the company.

You'll recall that Roche made a tender offer for Ventana back in June at a price of $75 per share; the previous trading day, Ventana stock had closed at $51.95. In July, the Ventana board told shareholders not to cash in their shares because the Roche offer was "inadequate." Just yesterday, Roche extended its offer through September 20; only some 13,500 shareholders had tendered their stock--and Ventana has 35.6 million shares outstanding. Ventana shares are now trading at $82.51.

- see the release
- check out the AP report

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