By Michael Susin and Sabela Ojea
23andMe shares dropped on Wednesday following the resignation of independent directors amid a clash with Chief Executive Anne Wojcicki regarding her intentions to take the company private.
Shares in premarket trading were down 6.8% to $0.31. Shares are down more than 60% since the start of 2024.
Seven independent directors of the DNA-testing company's board on Tuesday sent a letter to Wojcicki explaining their resignation, citing lack of an actionable proposal for non-affiliated shareholders. They said they also differed on the strategic direction for the company going forward.
"After months of work, we have yet to receive from you a fully financed, fully diligenced, actionable proposal that is in the best interests of the non-affiliated shareholders," the directors said. "That we have not seen any notable progress over the last 5 months leads us to believe no such proposal is forthcoming."
Roelof Botha, Patrick Chung, Sandra Hernandez, Neal Mohan, together with Valerie Montgomery Rice, Richard Scheller and Peter Taylor, were 23andMe's independent board directors.
In April 23andMe made public that Wojcicki was seeking to take it private after three years in public markets that saw the company's once-hot valuation collapse from a high of $6 billion to around $170 million.
The company said in August that it received a preliminary non-binding indication of interest from Wojcicki to acquire all of the outstanding shares of 23andMe not owned by her or her affiliates or any other stockholder that she invites to roll over their shares for a cash consideration of 40 cents per share.
Write to Michael Susin at michael.susin@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 18, 2024 06:10 ET (10:10 GMT)
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