BGI-Complete Deal Continues to Raise Questions

December 14, 2012 | The BGI-Complete Genomics deal continues to stir controversy. Yesterday, Michael Wessel and Larry Wortzel, congressionally-appointed members of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, raised national security concerns about the deal. Complete Genomics' CEO Cliff Reid answered their claims--and others proposed by Illumina--in a memo this morning to Complete Genomics' staff. Reid said that "Illumina's recent prediction that the $113 million deal stands a good chance of being blocked by the Treasury Department-led Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States is motivated by a desire to maintain BGI as a customer for its genome sequencing equipment" and that Wessel and Wortzel's claims were "outlandish." (See more at The Deal) Meanwhile, BGI has extended their cash offer for Complete Genomics. The offer was originally set to expire today. The new deadline is midnight on December 31. (See more at Benzinga)