Akoya Biosciences considering unsolicited buyout amidst merger proceedings
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Akoya Biosciences' Marlborough headquarters
After biotech firm Akoya Biosciences previously announced it would be acquired by Billerica-based research corporation Quanterix, the Marlborough-based company is now considering an unsolicited, all-cash buyout offer it received from an anonymous third party.
The unsolicited offer would see Akoya purchased for $1.40 in exchange for each share of Akoya common stock, according to the company’s Wednesday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Based on this exchange rate, Akoya’s purchase price would total at least $69.83 million, since the company had 49,875,399 outstanding common shares as of April 30, according to the company’s quarterly report filed with the SEC on May 13. Outstanding shares do not represent all of a company’s common stock.
Akoya did not immediately return WBJ’s request for comment nor did the company confirm its total number of common stock.
Akoya’s board of directors is currently reviewing the unnamed party’s offer with the understanding that it could reasonably be a superior offer than the company’s existing merger deal with Quanterix; still, the board is continuing to recommend the former merger deal to stockholders.
The buyout offer comes four months after Akoya announced in January that it would enter into acquisition proceedings with Quanterix in which Quanterix stockholders will own 70% of the company and Akoya stockholders possess the remaining 30%. As part of the deal, Akoya would survive as a wholly owned subsidiary of Quanterix—a move that would help expand Akoya’s efforts in advancing spatial biology imaging.
In April, the merger agreement was amended, with Quanterix agreeing to issue approximately 7.76 million common stock shares and pay $20 million in cash to Akoya stakeholders. Quanterix would issue more than 9 million fewer shares than the January deal outlined, owning about 84% of the merged entity and Akoya stakeholders owning about 16%, according to an April 29 press release from Akoya.
Founded in 2015, Akoya offers products and services to assist in spatial biology research.
In May 2024, the company unveiled a new 32,000-square-foot facility in Marlborough, housing the manufacturing and quality control for its spatial biology imaging equipment.
Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare and diversity, equity, and inclusion industries.
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