Thermo Fishers acquires Dutch diagnostics group Qiagen for $11.5bn

The  US Scientific equipment maker, Thermo Fisher with a market capitalisation of $122bn, has agreed to buy Dutch diagnostics group Qlagen for $11.5bn in a move to extend their disease testing capabilities as the world is gripped by the Coronavirus outbreak.

Qiagen, a provider for sample and Assay technologies for molecular diagnostics, applied testing, academic and pharmaceutical research, consolidated under the Dutch holding Qiagen N.V. operating more than 35 offices in over 25 countries, which also previously provided testing equipment used during the Sars and Swine flu outbreaks, is developing kits to test for Covid-19, which has infected over 95, 000 people globally and killed more than 3, 300. Qiagen has a revenue of $1.502bn in 2018.with subsidiaries Enzymatic Inc, SABiosciences Corporation, with headquarters in Hilden, Germany.

The purchase would rank one of Thermo Fisher’s largest after the company spent $13.6bn to Life Technologies Corp. to gain DNA-testing capabilities in 2014.

Thermo Fisher will pay €39 a share for Qiagen, valuing the group at $11.5bn, including $1.4bn in debt, which represents a 23 per cent premium to Qiagen’s closing share price on Monday.

When the new coronavirus emerged out of China in January 2020, Qiagen got to work on a test to detect the virus in bodily fluids. The test is now being evaluated at four hospitals in China and one in France. The diagnostic gives results in one hour.

Qiagen’s stock took a hit in October 2019 when then CEO Peer Schatz announced he would step down after 15 years at the helm and the Dutch company slashed its forecast for quarterly sales growth.

Marc Casper, Thermo Fisher president, and CEO said: “This acquisition provides us with the opportunity to leverage our industry-leading capabilities and R&D expertise to accelerate innovation and address emerging healthcare needs”.

JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley are advising Thermo Fisher. Qiagen hired Goldman Sachs and Barclays Bank.