Berkeley Lights’ deal fits vision, but not without risks, says William Blair

After Berkeley Lights (BLI) announced an agreement to acquire IsoPlexis (ISO) in an all-stock transaction valued at $57.8M and create a combined company called PhenomeX that will trade under the ticker "CELL," William Blair analyst Matt Larew said he was surprised to see a deal being the first press release to follow the investor day last month given what he sees as "the substantial work to be done to execute on the core Berkeley Lights turnaround." While the IsoPlexis acquisition fits Berkeley’s vision to build a diverse functional cell biology company, it is "not without risks," said Larew, who has a Market Perform rating on Berkeley Lights shares.