By Sabela Ojea
The independent directors of 23andMe have resigned, citing lack of an actionable proposal for non-affiliated shareholders as Chief Executive Anne Wojcicki seeks to take the company private.
Seven independent directors of the DNA-testing company's board on Tuesday sent a letter to Wojcicki explaining their resignation. 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 Hernández, Neal Mohan, together with Valerie Montgomery Rice, Richard Scheller and Peter Taylor, were 23andMe's independent board directors.
23andMe made public in April 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.
Last month, 23andMe said 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.
A day later, the special committee of the board showed opposition to the proposal and said it was disappointed with the proposal for multiple reasons, including because it provided no premium to the closing price per share on July 31, it lacked committed financing, and it was conditional in nature.
"Importantly, we request that you immediately withdraw your stated intent to oppose any alternative transaction so that we can fully assess whether there is interest from third parties in a transaction that would maximize value for all shareholders," they said.
Write to Sabela Ojea at sabela.ojea@wsj.com; @sabelaojeaguix
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 17, 2024 17:15 ET (21:15 GMT)
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