Shares of Exact Sciences (EXAS) continued to rise in the premarket on Thursday, adding ~18% after the cancer test maker agreed to be acquired by Abbott Laboratories (ABT) in an all-cash deal worth up to $21B.
Exact (EXAS) shares closed ~24% on Wednesday after Bloomberg News reported about a potential M&A deal between the duo, noting that it could be the biggest deal in the global health-care sector this year.
Per the terms, Abbott (ABT) will offer $105 per common share to acquire all outstanding shares of Exact (EXAS) in a deal worth nearly $21B in equity value and $23B in enterprise value, including $1.8B in debt of the Cologuard cancer test maker.
The companies expect to complete the transaction in Q2 2026, after which Exact (EXAS) is expected to become a subsidiary of Abbott (ABT), helping the MedTech giant to record more than $12B in diagnostics sales annually.