German-listed Qiagen and France’s BioMerieux are thinking about a merger, but it is hard to see an easy way for them to come together
Progress on Covid-19 vaccines has been wonderful for the world, but in financial markets it has dulled enthusiasm for firms whose business involves virus testing. Now two of Europe’s big Covid-19 diagnostics firms — German-listed Qiagen and France’s BioMerieux — are mulling a union. The snag is it’s hard to see an easy way for them to come together.
That could be attractive for BioMerieux’s shareholders, led by Institut Merieux, the founding family’s holding company that owns 59% of the shares. There would also be savings from consolidating sales, R&D and head-office functions — plus cross-selling opportunities. Mashing together the companies at their prevailing market values in a no-premium, all-share deal might seem tempting. But Institut Merieux would lose control and the governance would be a fudge. Moreover, Qiagen shareholders would probably prefer a deal with a premium and a large amount of cash. After all, their stock appears to be performing better.
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