Carl Icahn said to prepare for proxy battle with Illumina over Grail deal - WSJ

Carl Icahn plans to nominate three directors for Illumina's (NASDAQ:ILMN) board, arguing that the biotech firm has been continuing its planned purchase of Grail Inc. even as regulators attempt to block it.

The billionaire activist, who tried to reach a deal with Illumina (ILMN) to avoid a proxy fight, plans to nominate Vincent Intrieri, founder and CEO of an investment fund and two of Icahn’s deputies, Jesse Lynn and Andrew Teno, according to a WSJ report, which cited a copy of letter Icahn plans to send to Illumina's board on Monday.

Icahn is said to claim that Illumina (ILMN), the gene-sequencing company, is vastly overpaying for Grail and went through with its acquisition even as it didn't know if European regulators would approve it.

In December, the European Commission ordered Illumina (ILMN) to divest Grail three months after an EU veto of the $7.1B acquisition on antitrust grounds and concerns about the impact on innovation.

Illumina (ILMN) last month sought to persuade senior EU and national antitrust officials at a closed hearing against an order to divest its 2021 acquisition of cancer test maker GRAIL.