Carl Icahn sues Illumina board for violating ‘fiduciary duties’

(Reuters) -Activist-investor Carl Icahn sued the board of directors at genetic testing company Illumina (NASDAQ:) and accused them of breaching their fiduciary duties, according to a sealed copy of the complaint on Tuesday.

The publicly available version of the complaint did not contain further details, but Icahn told the 13D investor conference in New York on Tuesday that the lawsuit pertained to Illumina completing its acquisition of cancer detection test maker Grail.

Illumina said it is reviewing the complaint, while Icahn and Grail did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for a comment.

The gene-sequencing machine maker had repurchased Grail in 2021 despite opposition from U.S. and European antitrust regulators – a decision that prompted Icahn to pursue a proxy fight at Illumina, arguing Grail should be divested as it had cost investors billions of dollars.

Last week, Illumina said it would divest cancer test maker Grail in 12 months according to the terms of the European Commission’s order, if the life sciences company does not win its challenge in court.

San Diego-based Illumina in September had named Agilent Technologies (NYSE:)’ Jacob Thaysen as its CEO, months after the former head of the company resigned following a proxy fight with billionaire Carl Icahn.