Berkeley Lights To Acquire IsoPlexis in $57.8m Deal

IsoPlexis' (NASDAQ: ISO) stock price has rallied in extended trading after it was announced Berkeley Lights (NASDAQ: BLI) will acquire the life science technology company in an all-stock transaction valued at $57.8 million.

The companies stated that their complementary technologies, customer bases, and commercial channels will strengthen their leadership in high-growth, single-cell biology. At the same time, cost synergies will increase profitability and accelerate the path to breakeven in 2024, earlier than Berkeley expected as a standalone entity.

The combined will be named PhenomeX, listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker CELL. The combined business will be a cell biology company providing live cell biology research tools.

The deal will see IsoPlexis shareholders receive 0.612 shares of Berkeley Lights stock for each IsoPlexis share they hold, and after the deal is completed, Berkeley Lights shareholders will own approximately 75.2% of the combined company, while IsoPlexis shareholders will own roughly 24.8%.

“The combination of Berkeley Lights and IsoPlexis represents an important milestone and fuels our transformation into a growing, profitable, and sustainable life sciences company,” said Siddhartha Kadia, chief executive officer of Berkeley Lights.

“This transaction accelerates our progress across every core pillar of our strategic plan and creates a path to achieving positive operating cash flow earlier than we expected to as a standalone company. We look forward to joining forces with the IsoPlexis team as we embark on this next chapter and create value for our shareholders, employees, and customers.”

IsoPlexis shares jumped more than 63% following the acquisition announcement.