Large-cap sponsors circle Qiagen bioinformatics arm ahead of indicative bids

Sponsors tipped to be in the mix to submit bids include Advent International, Astorg, Bain Capital, Cinven, EQT, Montagu, Nordic Capital and Novo, which have all submitted earlier indications of interest, according to the sources.

The sellside is expecting to collect indicative offers shortly after Easter in mid-April, one of the sources said.

Deutsche Bank is advising Qiagen on the process, the sources said.

At least five of the sponsor bidders have also already appointed buyside advisors, according to two of the sources.

Qiagen’s plans to sell a minority stake in the bioinformatics arm, which produces software to evaluate biological data, were first reported in January. The asset could be valued at USD 1bn or more, as reported.

The unit is being marketed off more than EUR 40m EBITDA, with the vendor striving to fetch an enterprise value (EV) for the unit at around 25x EBITDA, one of the sources noted.

The search for an investor kicked off last month, with indications of interest and love letters received throughout February, according to the sources. Management presentations were likewise held earlier this month, two of the sources noted.

Still, while enthusiasm for a stake in the business initially ran high, some sponsors’ interest is beginning to cool off after getting a closer look at the unit’s performance, one of the sources said. Some bidders have been disappointed by its financials and that it is losing market share to smaller rivals, the same source added.

Qiagen said in its latest earnings call that bioinformatics is not the company’s only portfolio asset that could bring in additional investment, with CEO Thierry Bernard adding that significant investment is needed to “fully break the code” in bioinformatics solutions.

“We are open for many scenarios, it involves potentially different options,” he said. “What is sure is that we want to basically continue to develop and contribute to the growth of that market, but we are open to different solutions.”

Qiagen has a market cap of around USD 10.44bn (EUR 9.64bn) and reported USD 2.26bn net sales in FY22 at constant exchange rates, according to its latest report.

Competitors for the bioinformatics unit include Swiss-US medicine software company Sophia Genetics and California-based life sciences tech company Berkeley Lights, said one of the sources. Both of these companies are loss-making with the former reporting a USD 87m net loss in FY2022 and the latter a net loss of USD 29m.

Deutsche Bank, Advent International, Bain Capital, Cinven, EQT, Montagu, Nordic Capital and Novo declined to comment. Qiagen and Astorg did not respond to requests for comment.

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• Benelux
• Healthcare
• Take Private
• Advent International
• Cinven
• EQT
• Nordic Capital
• Bain Capital
• Montagu Private Equity
• Deutsche Bank