EQT leads €46.50-a-share buyout of Qiagen in €10.8B take-private
What's the deal? Crown NL Bidco, a holding company controlled by EQT Private Equity, has announced an all-cash voluntary takeover offer for all shares of Dutch life-sciences group Qiagen at €46.50 each. The offer values Qiagen at about €10.8 billion in enterprise value (roughly $12.1 billion, including $1.1 billion of net debt).
Who's behind it? EQT is backed by co-investors Luxinva, a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment AuthorityDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and CPP Investment Board Europe, part of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Qiagen's management and supervisory boards unanimously support the bid and recommend shareholders accept it.
What does Qiagen do? The company, listed in New York and Frankfurt, makes diagnostics and life-sciences tools, from DNA and RNA purification kits to tuberculosis and infectious-disease tests.
What are the terms? The price marks a 40.3% premium to Qiagen's €33.15 close on July 8, the last trading day before reports of private-equity interest surfaced, and a 46.9% premium to its three-month volume-weighted average. Closing is expected in mid-2027, subject to a minimum acceptance of 50% of shares plus one and regulatory clearances.
Why now? Qiagen's growth has been modest, with second-quarter sales flat year over year, though its growth businesses rose about 5%. It began evaluating strategic options in January and later suspended its 2026 outlook pending the deal.
What's the rationale? Chairman Stephen H. Rusckowski said the deal offers shareholders "compelling value while positioning QIAGEN for its next phase of development under private ownership." Chief executive officer Jonathan M. Pratt said that as a private company, "we can move faster and have greater freedom to put resources behind the most attractive opportunities."
The signal: The agreement caps months of competition — Reuters reported binding bids from both EQT and KKR after Qiagen opened strategic talks. It ranks among the largest private-equity buyouts of a diagnostics and life-sciences tools company, though completion remains conditional through mid-2027.
Read more: biospace.com, webdisclosure.com, Financial Times
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