Milbank advises EQT Private Equity on voluntary public takeover offer for QIAGEN

Deals

Germany, 22 October 2026. Milbank LLP has advised Crown NL BidCo B.V. on the conclusion of a Business Combination Agreement with QIAGEN N.V. On this basis, Crown NL BidCo B.V. (the "Bidder") has announced its decision to make a voluntary public takeover offer to all shareholders of QIAGEN. The Bidder is a holding company indirectly controlled by the EQT XI fund, with further indirect participations of the co-investors Luxinva S.A. (a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA)) and CPP Investment Board Europe Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments)).

The transaction will be implemented by way of a public takeover offer by the Bidder for all issued ordinary shares of QIAGEN at an offer price of EUR 46.50 per QIAGEN share in cash. The transaction values QIAGEN at an enterprise value of around EUR 10.8 billion (including net debt of around USD 1.1 billion).

The transaction is EQT Private Equity's largest public-to-private (P2P) transaction in the DACH region and the first ever takeover of a DAX company by a private equity investor.

Founded in 1984, QIAGEN is one of the world's leading companies in molecular technologies and diagnostics. The company pioneered modern sample preparation, the decisive first step in most molecular workflows, and turns biological samples into actionable insights. QIAGEN has a broad and innovative product portfolio around sample technologies and serves more than 500,000 customers with around 5,500 employees at more than 35 locations. In the 2025 financial year, QIAGEN generated revenue of USD 2.1 billion and adjusted EBITDA of around USD 750 million. The company has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Prime Standard) and the NYSE since 1996.

QIAGEN's Management Board and Supervisory Board have approved the Business Combination Agreement and support the transaction. The takeover offer will be subject to reaching a minimum acceptance threshold of 50% of the company's outstanding share capital plus one QIAGEN share, the adoption of certain resolutions by an extraordinary general meeting of QIAGEN, including approval of certain corporate measures to be implemented after completion of the takeover offer that are intended to enable the Bidder to acquire the company's entire business, a separate resolution of QIAGEN's Management Board and Supervisory Board to implement these measures, merger control and foreign investment clearances, and certain further conditions set out in the offer document.

Milbank LLP is advising EQT Private Equity as lead counsel on all aspects of the transaction. The Milbank team is led by partners Dr. Steffen Oppenländer, Dr. Christoph Rothenfußer (both Corporate, Munich) and Philipp Klöckner (Corporate Finance and Securities, Frankfurt) and further comprises partners Dr. Alexander Rinne (Regulatory), Dr. Thomas Kleinheisterkamp (Tax), Barbara Mayer-Trautmann (Finance, all Munich), Iliana Ongun (Corporate), Brett Nadritch (Corporate Finance and Securities), Nathaniel Browand (Litigation, all New York) and Bijan Ganji (National Security, Washington, DC), special counsel Karoline König (Corporate Finance and Securities, Frankfurt), Dr. Sebastian Reiner-Pechtl (Corporate, Munich) and Mark Padley (Litigation, London) as well as associates Dr. Sandra Feil, Dr. Maximilian Hirschfeld, Leopold Oesterheld, Anton Kühnel, Nikolai Blechschmidt (all Corporate, Munich), Hendrik Gäbler (Corporate, Frankfurt), Darius Beike (Finance), Marlies Zeck (Regulatory) and Dr. Christoph Wolf (Tax, all Munich), Lauren Trushin (National Security, Washington, DC), Michaela Fleischer (Corporate), Bradley Hershon (Litigation, both New York) and Abdulla Abdulla-Zada (Corporate, London).

Stibbe N.V. is advising on the Dutch legal aspects of the transaction, led by partner Marc Habermehl and counsel Nora Offergelt (both Corporate, Amsterdam).

Advisors to EQT Private Equity / Crown NL BidCo B.V.: Milbank LLP (lead counsel) - Dr. Steffen Oppenländer, Dr. Christoph Rothenfußer (both Corporate, Munich), Philipp Klöckner (Corporate Finance and Securities, Frankfurt); Stibbe N.V. (Dutch law) - Marc Habermehl (Partner), Nora Offergelt (Counsel, both Corporate, Amsterdam)

This text was automatically translated from the German original.