Illumina $1B cash outlay for Grail divestment ‘better than fears,’ says Evercore

After Illumina announced it has received approval of its divestment plan for GRAIL from the European Commission, Evercore ISI analyst Vijay Kumar said that relative to the “bear case assumption” of Illumina needing $1.75B-$2B of cash outlay to divest Grail, the current plan of $1B is “better than fears.” The firm thinks Illumina may have to raise $500M-$1B of new debt, which could represent about a 20c EPS headwind at the mid-point of that estimated range. The firm, which sees 4%-5% of value unlock, has an Outperform rating and $200 price target on Illumina shares.