BRIEF—Roche again extends tender offer for Spark Therapeutics

Swiss pharma giant Roche has again been forced to extend the tender offer to purchase all of the outstanding shares of common stock Stark Therapeutics, which was due to expire November 25, until December 10, 2019, unless it is extended further under the circumstances set forth in the merger agreement.

All terms and conditions of the offer, first announced in February this year with a transaction value of $4.3 billion, will remain unchanged during the extended period.

The offer was extended to provide additional time for the US Federal Trade Commission and the UK Competition and Markets Authority to complete their previously disclosed reviews of Roche’s pending acquisition of Spark.

The parties remain committed to the transaction and are working cooperatively and expeditiously with the FTC and the CMA.