EQT agrees to buy Qiagen at €10.8bn enterprise value in all-cash take-private

EQT Private Equity has agreed to buy Qiagen, the life-sciences tools and molecular diagnostics group, in an all-cash takeover that values the company at an enterprise value of €10.8 billion (about $12.1 billion), including roughly $1.1 billion of net debt. The two companies announced the agreement on 21 October 2026, and both of Qiagen's boards back the offer ¹².

The terms

EQT is offering €46.50 per share. Qiagen measures the premium against the XETRA close of €33.15 on 8 July, the last trading day before reports of private equity interest appeared: on that basis it is 40.3%, rising to 46.9% against the three-month volume-weighted average price of €31.66 ¹. Against the close on the day before the announcement, the premium was 8.6% ¹.

The bidding vehicle is indirectly controlled by the EQT XI fund. Luxinva, owned by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and CPP Investment Board Europe, part of CPP Investments, hold stakes as co-investors ¹. EQT said it has committed equity and debt financing in place, with Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, Deutsche Bank, SMBC, Crédit Agricole and UniCredit arranging the debt ¹.

The offer needs acceptances from 50% of Qiagen's share capital plus one share, as well as merger control and foreign investment clearances ¹. Holders who do not tender will receive a cash distribution equal to the offer price less withholding taxes, which Qiagen warned could leave them with less than accepting the offer would ¹. Under the business combination agreement, EQT has made commitments covering Qiagen's strategy, brands, operational footprint, R&D, employees and financing, and the company will keep its name ¹².

Why the board sold

Qiagen said the decision followed a review that included talks with strategic and financial parties. Its chairman, Stephen H. Rusckowski, said the boards "unanimously concluded that this is the best path forward for Qiagen" ¹. Jonathan Pratt, who became chief executive less than two months before the agreement, said private ownership would let the company "move faster" and give it "greater freedom to put resources behind the most attractive opportunities" ².

The trading record explains some of the appetite for a sale. In April Qiagen cut its net sales growth forecast from 5% to 1-2% after sales of its QuantiFERON tuberculosis blood test fell 5% year on year at constant exchange rates, hit by lower demand for immigration-related testing in the US and the Middle East. Its XETRA shares touched a 52-week low of €27.56 on 12 May ¹. The company has now suspended its guidance for the year ¹.

What it means for the market

The deal takes one of Europe's largest listed diagnostics and tools suppliers off public markets, and moves a portfolio used by hospital laboratories and life-sciences customers under private equity ownership through mid-2027 at least ¹². For investors, the price sets a reference point for the sector that analysts regard as modest. William Blair said the offer implies about 15 times its estimate of Qiagen's 2027 EBITDA, below comparable life sciences deals, which it put generally in the high teens to low 20s, and judged the price reasonable given Qiagen's lower growth ².

EQT brings a record in the field. It held a majority stake in Aldevron before selling it to Danaher for about $9.6 billion, and it joined Goldman Sachs's private equity arm to buy Parexel for $8.5 billion ¹. The firm says it has invested over €30 billion in more than 210 healthcare companies ¹.

Caveats

Investors reacted cautiously on the day: XETRA shares rose 5% to €44.94, below the offer price, while the New York listing gained 0.4% ¹. The last attempt to buy Qiagen, by Thermo Fisher Scientific in 2020, collapsed when only 47% of shares were tendered against a two-thirds threshold ¹. This offer's threshold is lower. Completion is expected in mid-2027, and if regulatory approvals are still pending by 21 August 2027, Qiagen may pay shareholders an interim dividend of up to $0.47 per share without reducing the offer price ¹.