Qiagen and Swedish private equity firm EQT have agreed to an all-cash takeover that values Qiagen at approximately €10.8 billion ($12.1 billion), including about $1.1 billion in debt.
Under the deal, announced Oct. 21, a vehicle controlled by EQT will offer €46.50 per share for all outstanding shares in the European molecular diagnostics and sample preparation company. US-based single-cell sequencing company Parse Biosciences is a Qiagen subsidiary.
The offer is a 40 percent premium to Qiagen’s closing price of €33.15 on July 8 on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the last trading day before market reports of private equity takeover interest. Following completion of the transaction, the company will continue to operate under the Qiagen name and brand.
“Under private ownership, we can move faster and have greater freedom to put resources behind the most attractive opportunities that align best with our long-term strategy,” Qiagen CEO Jonathan Pratt said in a statement, however, he did not say what those opportunities or strategies might look like.
The deal ends years of takeover speculation for Qiagen. Thermo Fisher Scientific nearly acquired Qiagen in 2020 for as much as $12.5 billion; however, the deal collapsed after less than half of Qiagen’s shares were tendered.
According to EQT, it has €354 billion in assets under management. The deal is part of the new EQT XI buyout fund of approximately €23 billion. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board hold indirect stakes in the EQT XI-controlled vehicle used for the transaction.
Qiagen said its Supervisory and Managing boards have unanimously approved the deal and will recommend the deal to shareholders. Closing is expected by mid-2027; if it has not occurred within 10 months due to pending regulatory approvals, Qiagen may pay an interim dividend of up to $0.47 per share, which would not be deducted from the offer price.
In Thursday morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange, shares of Qiagen were flat at $50.30.