Ginkgo to Acquire Zymergen

Boston’s Ginkgo Bioworks has announced it will acquire California biotech Zymergen in an all-stock transaction that values Zymergen at an approximately $300 million market capitalization. The transaction is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2023.

Ginkgo’s platform is enabling biotechnology applications across diverse markets, from food and agriculture to industrial chemicals to pharmaceuticals. Ginkgo has also actively supported a number of COVID-19 response efforts, including K-12 pooled testing, vaccine manufacturing optimization and therapeutics discovery. Zymergen designs and produces molecules, microbes and materials for diverse end markets.

The agreement represents Ginkgo’s largest acquisition to date and is expected to significantly enhance Ginkgo’s platform by integrating strong automation and software capabilities as well as a wealth of experience across diverse biological engineering approaches. Ginkgo is a horizontal platform, serving customers across industries rather than producing its own products, and will support Zymergen’s plans to evaluate strategic alternatives for their Advanced Materials and Drug Discovery businesses, which have established valuable product pipelines and rapid prototyping capabilities.

Additionally, Zymergen will continue its standalone cost restructuring initiatives, including headcount reductions and program rationalization. Finally, the addition of Zymergen personnel is expected to help fill planned hiring by Ginkgo as it scales the platform. Taken together, Ginkgo expects these actions to minimize incremental run-rate operating expenses in connection with the combination once integration is completed. (Source: Ginkgo Bioworks Website, 25 July, 2022)