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Dutch diagnostics player Qiagen confirms buyout talks following report of Thermo Fisher's interest
Several bidders have laid their eyes on Dutch diagnostics firm Qiagen — and Thermo Fisher is reportedly one of them.
Qiagen, which is listed on the NYSE, notified investors on Friday that “it has begun a review of potential strategic alternatives after receiving several conditional, non-binding indications of interest for the acquisition of all issued and outstanding shares of the Company.” It didn’t name any of the potential buyers.
The board is in discussions with these interested parties, the company added.
Shares $QGEN are up a further 12% to $42.2 after a surge earlier in the week, in response to a Bloomberg report — based on insider information — that Thermo Fisher is considering a takeover. Qiagen’s market cap now stands at $9.19 billion.
If Thermo Fisher prevails, this could mark one of the conglomerate’s largest purchases, Bloomberg noted, surpassing the $7.2 billion deal for contract development and manufacturing group Pantheon.
Headquartered in Venlo, The Netherlands, with over 5,200 staffers spread across 35 offices globally, Qiagen has built a suite of genomic analysis services around technologies that isolate and process DNA, RNA and proteins from blood, tissue or other samples.
The potential buyout comes at a time of flux for the company. Just a month ago, CEO Peer Schatz handed in his notice after starting as one of Qiagen’s first employees 27 years ago, triggering a search for his successor. Thierry Bernard, head of the molecular diagnostics unit, is in charge ad interim.
“Our Life Sciences portfolio is facing accelerating growth, our Molecular Diagnostics portfolio is today second to none in terms of competitive profile, and now strengthened by our new strategic partnership with Illumina, and our bioinformatics portfolio has taken a strong and industry-defining position in digital solutions to gain molecular insights. We have a lot of opportunities and are entering into a new chapter of the QIAGEN growth story,” Schatz, who remains a special advisor, said at the time. “And this is why, after 27 fantastic years at QIAGEN, I now see a natural inflection point to bring in new leadership and will support this process.”