What’s Up With Illumina’s Acquisition of GRAIL?

If you want to land a job at a top investment bank, there’s an expectation that you’ve read certain material. Even though prop trading desks have gone the way of the dodo, books like Liar’s Poker and Reminiscences of a Stock Operator are must-reads. So is the 592-page monster, Barbarians at the Gate, a glimpse into the drama that unfolds behind closed doors when mergers and acquisitions (M&A) take place.

While Joe Retail investor sits there in his underwear trying to decide whether or not to buy or sell a few shares of Illumina (ILMN), he’s oblivious to the drama bubbling below the surface regarding the company’s proposed acquisition of GRAIL. To be fair, so are we. That’s why we’re going to take a closer look at what’s happening, especially considering that Illumina is the second-largest holding in our own tech stock portfolio.

The Background Story

The last time we checked in with Illumina was in October 2020 when we evaluated the r