EQT AB has agreed to acquire Qiagen NV for around €9.6 billion ($10.8 billion), ending years of takeover speculation surrounding the European molecular testing company. Qiagen’s board approved the €46.50 a share offer by Crown NL Bidco BV, a holding company indirectly controlled by an EQT fund. Affiliates of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board are participating in the all-cash offer. The price represents a roughly 40% premium to Qiagen’s share price before previous reports of a potential transaction. Shares of Qiagen closed at €42.82 a share Wednesday in Frankfurt for a market value of €8.55 billion. The company’s US-traded shares rose 2.3% to $50 (€44.51) in New York trading. The deal ranks as one of the largest in the European healthcare sector this year. KKR & Co. had also bid for the company. Qiagen had been urged to accept the proposal, with Switzerland-based PSSquared Asset Management, a top 25 holder of Qiagen, wanting a deal done at more than $50 a share.
The company, incorporated in the Netherlands with its primary offices in Hilden, Germany, provides technologies and services for testing genetic materials to hundreds of thousands of customers, including pharmaceutical research and development teams and clinical labs. Qiagen has attracted takeover interest multiple times in recent years. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. made a $12 billion takeover bid for Qiagen in 2020, before eventually abandoning it when opposition from an activist investor led its tender offer to fall short.
EQT is in the midst of a prolific run of dealmaking that has resulted in a number of multibillion-dollar transactions this year. The Stockholm-based private equity firm this week agreed to a A$9.3 billion acquisition of Australia’s Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd. Over the summer, EQT struck a £9.3 billion takeover of UK-listed product testing business Intertek Group Plc.
The acquisition underscores EQT’s aggressive expansion strategy across global sectors, particularly in healthcare and industrial services. With this transaction, EQT adds a leading molecular diagnostics player to its portfolio amid rising demand for genetic testing technologies.
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing