Believes Merger Agreement Significantly Undervalues Quanterix
Kent Lake PR LLC (“Kent Lake”), a holder of 5.9% of the outstanding common stock of Quanterix Corporation (“Quanterix” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: QTRX), today highlighted its opposition to the Company’s proposed merger (the “Merger”) with Akoya Biosciences (“Akoya”) (NASDAQ: AKYA). Kent Lake has also issued an open letter to all Quanterix shareholders outlining how the Merger significantly undervalues the Company and its intention to take all necessary steps to vote against the deal.
The full text of the letter can be viewed here.
In its letter, Kent Lake details the following key reasons to vote against the Merger:
- A Massive and Unjustifiable Valuation Disparity: The deal assigns Quanterix an enterprise value of only $42 million, while valuing the weaker Akoya business at $168 million despite Quanterix’s superior revenue, growth, and market opportunity.
- A Bailout for Akoya at Quanterix Shareholders’ Expense: Akoya’s financial struggles would have forced it to seek external financing at a deep discount. Instead, Quanterix’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) is handing it a premium at the expense of its own investors.
- A Major Risk to Quanterix’s Financial Strength: Post-merger, Quanterix’s cash runway shrinks from 6.5 years to just 2.5 years, dramatically increasing the likelihood of future dilutive equity raises.
- A Distraction from Quanterix’s Biggest Growth Opportunity: The Company stands at a critical moment in its Alzheimer’s diagnostic expansion, requiring full focus on FDA approval, reimbursement, and commercialization – not the acquisition of a struggling peer.
- Illusory Synergies with High Execution Risk: Akoya has already cut its workforce by 35%, leading to declining revenue. Additional cost reductions risk further destabilization rather than generating true operational efficiencies.
Ben Natter, Managing Member of Kent Lake, issued the following statement:
“The Merger terms are indefensible and would permanently impair QTRX shareholders while depleting nearly $100 million in net cash to bail out Akoya. We urge the Quanterix Board to abandon this misguided merger and explore alternative paths that we believe could deliver superior value, including refocusing on the Company’s promising organic growth opportunities as a standalone entity or pursuing a sale of Quanterix at a valuation exceeding $1 billion.
Kent Lake is prepared to take all necessary steps to mobilize shareholders to vote against the deal, including nominating directors to the Quanterix Board at the 2025 Annual Meeting. We look forward to communicating further with our fellow shareholders in the coming weeks.”
THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION OF AUTHORITY TO VOTE YOUR PROXY. DO NOT SEND US YOUR PROXY CARD. KENT LAKE IS NOT ABLE TO VOTE YOUR PROXY, NOR DOES THIS COMMUNICATION CONTEMPLATE SUCH AN EVENT.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250218947049/en/
Contacts
For media inquiries, please contact:
Ben Natter, 415-799-2720
info@kentlakecap.com