SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO — Genentech rejected rival Roche Holdings $43.7 billion takeover bid Wednesday, and Genentech shares closed 11 percent higher than the offer. The biotechnology company said it was open to further talks.
Roche, of Basel, Switzerland, said July 21 it would pay $89 a share for the 44 percent of Genentech it doesn’t already own. The offer “substantially undervalues the company,” a committee of Genentech directors said Wednesday in a statement. Investors have said it could take a bid as high as $125 a share to purchase the company.
The offer has been criticized by investors who say Roche, the world’s largest maker of cancer drugs, was trying to get a bargain. Genentech’s top U.S. product, Avastin, is being tested against 30 malignancies.
