Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LH) announced that it has reached an agreement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission allowing LabCorp to complete its acquisition of Orchid Cellmark Inc (ORCH).
Under the terms of the proposed consent decree that was accepted by the FTC for public comment, LabCorp is required to divest certain assets of Orchid Cellmark's U.S. government paternity business following closing of the acquisition. LabCorp has reached agreement to sell those assets to DNA Diagnostics Center (DDC), a privately held provider of DNA paternity testing.
As previously announced, LabCorp's cash tender offer for all outstanding shares of common stock of Orchid Cellmark is scheduled to expire on December 9, 2011, unless further extended.
In April 2011, Laboratory Corp. and Orchid Cellmark had announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement and plan of merger under which LabCorp will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Orchid Cellmark in a cash tender offer for $2.80 per share for a total purchase price to stockholders and option holders of around $85.4 million.
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