Ginkgo punts $300 million to acquire Zymergen

Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA) — a leader in horizontal platform for cell programming — and the biotechnology company Zymergen (Nasdaq: ZY) have entered into a definitive agreement under which Ginkgo will acquire the latter in an all-stock transaction that values Zymergen at an approximately $300 million market capitalization.

In Monday morning trading, shares of Zymergen were up 16% at $2.32 and shares of Ginkgo were down nearly 7% at $2.72.

Under the terms of the agreement, which have been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies, Zymergen stockholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 0.9179 Ginkgo shares for each Zymergen share, representing 5.25% pro forma ownership of Ginkgo following the transaction.