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Affymetrix Agrees to Repurchase Notes, Pay Legal Fees to Resolve Tang Capital Suit
January 2012

Affymetrix Inc. has agreed to repurchase $95.5 million in bonds from investment firm Tang Capital Partners and others to settle a putative class action. The Ropes & Gray team representing Tang Capital was led by San Francisco-based litigation partners Thad Davis and Michael Li-Ming Wong, and included San Francisco corporate partner Ryan Murr, Boston-based bankruptcy partner Jim Wilton, San Francisco associates Kyle Withers, Kevin Dowell, Adam Trott, and Ryan Tollgaard, and Washington D.C.-based associate Tony Biagioli.

Faced with a preliminary injunction hearing after three weeks of expedited discovery on Monday, Jan. 23, Affymetrix, a maker of genomic analysis tools, settled the lawsuit brought by Tang Capital over the terms of the company’s acquisition of eBioscience Holding Company Inc. Affymetrix agreed to repurchase all the notes held by Tang Capital and other investors in the amount of $95.5 million (at par), with interest, as well as paying Tang Capital’s legal fees. The settlement was reported in an 8-K filing by Affymetrix on Jan. 25.

Commenting in a Bloomberg News report on the settlement, Davis said, “We are pleased to have been able to bring a quick halt to Affymetrix’s transparent attempt to devalue $95.5 million in notes purchased by Tang Capital and other investors to finance the company’s acquisition of eBioscience.” Davis also commented in Law 360, “It’s everything we could have gotten at trial.”


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