Qiagen NV US unit to buy eGene for $34M

Dutch research assay specialist Qiagen NV says that its subsidiary, Qiagen North American Holdings, has signed a definitive merger agreement with fellow USA-based eGene, an early-stage company located in Irvine, California, that has developed and is commercializing a patented sample separation and analysis technology based on capillary electrophoresis. The transaction has been approved by the directors of both companies and is expected to close, subject to regulatory and customary closing conditions, in the third quarter of the year.

Under the terms of the deal, Qiagen's US unit will offer $0.65 in cash and 0.0416 common shares of Qiagen stock per share of eGene stock, which amounts to a payment of approximately $34.0 million, based on the average closing prices of Qiagen stock on the Nasdaq for the 20 trading days ending April 12.

Qiagen expects this transaction to contribute around $2.0 million in sales in the second half of 2007 and roughly $7.0-$9.0 million for the full year of 2008. The Dutch firm expects to incur one-time charges of approximately $0.01 in earnings per share provided the deal closes by the third quarter. These charges primarily relate to in-process R&D and the write-off of certain assets. On an adjusted basis excluding one-time charges, integration and restructuring costs and amortization of acquired intellectual property, the acquisition is expected to reduce EPS in the second half of 2007 by $0.01 and to be neutral to earnings in 2008.