Venlo, The Netherlands, December 24, 2019 – QIAGEN N.V. (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) (“QIAGEN” or the “Company”) today announced that it has concluded the previously announced review of potential strategic alternatives, and has determined the execution of its current stand-alone business plan represents the best opportunity to drive future value creation.
The Supervisory Board and Management Board of QIAGEN, in accordance with their fiduciary duties and in consultation with their financial and legal advisors, held discussions with interested parties to explore potential strategic alternatives that could provide greater value creation opportunities than QIAGEN’s already strong stand-alone growth prospects. This process was announced in mid-November after QIAGEN received several conditional, non-binding indications of interest for a full acquisition.
On December 24, 2019, the Supervisory Board and Management Board determined that the various alternatives to the stand-alone prospects were not compelling, and has terminated all discussions so that full management focus can be on executing the stand-alone plan.
“The Supervisory Board and Management Board conducted a wide-ranging review of strategic alternatives for our business and determined that the ongoing transformation provides the best means for creating future value for shareholders and other stakeholders,” said Dr. Håkan Björklund, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of QIAGEN N.V. “We have a strong and differentiated portfolio of molecular testing solutions that provide opportunity for significant growth. We will continue to focus on value-enhancing activities with financial discipline and an increased passion to serve our customers with our Sample to Insight solutions focused on the Life Sciences and Molecular Diagnostics.”
About QIAGEN
QIAGEN N.V., a Netherlands-based holding company, is the leading global provider of Sample to Insight solutions that enable customers to gain valuable molecular insights from samples containing the building blocks of life. Our sample technologies isolate and process DNA, RNA and proteins from blood, tissue and other materials. Assay technologies make these biomolecules visible and ready for analysis. Bioinformatics software and knowledge bases interpret data to report relevant, actionable insights. Automation solutions tie these together in seamless and cost-effective workflows. QIAGEN provides solutions to more than 500,000 customers around the world in Molecular Diagnostics (human healthcare) and Life Sciences (academia, pharma R&D and industrial applications, primarily forensics). As of September 30, 2019, QIAGEN employed approximately 5,200 people in over 35 locations worldwide. Further information can be found at http://www.qiagen.com.
Certain statements contained in this press release may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements include statements with respect to the Company’s strategic plans and exploration of strategic alternatives. Words such as ‘anticipates,’ ‘expects,’ ‘intends,’ ‘plans,’ ‘believes,’ ‘seeks,’ ‘estimates,’ and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All statements contained in this announcement that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including with respect to the status of any discussions with potential counterparties, the possibility of completing a transaction, and any outcome of a strategic alternative evaluation process. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from our expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the general uncertainty around future plans for the Company. Additionally, the Company’s exploration of strategic alternatives represents a potential material change in business strategy, which the Company may not be able to execute effectively, on any specific timeline, or at all, and its failure to do so may impact the price and volatility of the Company’s publicly traded shares. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this announcement. Such forward-looking statements also are subject to risks and uncertainties related to the Company’s business, including but not limited to, risks associated with management of growth and international operations (including the effects of currency fluctuations, regulatory processes and dependence on logistics); variability of operating results and allocations between customer classes; the commercial development of markets for our products to customers in academia, pharma, applied testing and molecular diagnostics; changing relationships with customers, suppliers and strategic partners; competition; rapid or unexpected changes in technologies; fluctuations in demand for QIAGEN’s products (including fluctuations due to general economic conditions, the level and timing of customers’ funding, budgets and other factors); our ability to obtain regulatory approval of our products; difficulties in successfully adapting QIAGEN’s products to integrated solutions and producing such products; the ability of QIAGEN to identify and develop new products and to differentiate and protect our products from competitors’ products; market acceptance of QIAGEN’s new products and the integration of acquired technologies and businesses; and the other factors discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” contained in Item 3 of our most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F. For further information, please refer to the discussions in reports that QIAGEN has filed with, or furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Any such forward-looking statements represent management’s estimates as of the date of this announcement. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change, except as required by law or by any appropriate regulatory authority. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this announcement.