From Bloomberg News:

Ancestry.com Inc. said a hypothetical takeover of its flailing rival in the consumer genetic testing industry, 23andMe Holding Co., likely wouldn’t be possible for antitrust reasons. 

“Although we are always interested in looking at possibilities that are out there, 23andMe specifically would be challenging because they’re the No. 2 in the category and we’re the No. 1 in the category and those combinations can be challenging from an FTC standpoint,” Chief Legal Officer Greg Packer said at an internal meeting last week when asked about the possibility of buying 23andMe’s database.

An Ancestry spokesperson declined to comment beyond what was said during the meeting.

23andMe went public in 2021 via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company founded by billionaire Richard Branson and was valued at $3.5 billion at the time. Since then, its shares have fallen 98% as sales of DNA testing kits have slowed. Chief Executive Officer Anne Wojcicki said last month she is no longer open to third party takeover proposals and instead will take the company private. All independent board members resigned last month.

Even if Ancestry were allowed to buy 23andMe, Chief Operating Officer Howard Hochhauser isn’t sure they would want to, he said during the meeting last week. Ancestry has the best product and network of data, Hochhauser said, pointing to a recent spike in sales of DNA testing kits.

Led by former Meta Platforms Inc. executive Deborah Liu, Ancestry is the world’s largest consumer genealogy company. It has more than $1 billion in revenue and over 25 million people in its DNA database, according to the company’s website. In 2020, private equity giant Blackstone Group Inc. acquired a majority-stake in the company.