Qiagen completes tender offer for shares in Exiqon

Qiagen has announced the successful completion of its conditional, voluntary public tender offer for shares in the life sciences company Exiqon.

The firm has received acceptances from Exiqon shareholders representing approximately 94.52 percent of the business's share capital and voting rights, with the offer now set to be settled in cash as soon as possible.

Exiqon is a world leader in RNA technology, with a particularly strong position in the emerging market of non-coding RNA. It has created a range of comprehensive RNA technology solutions that fit seamlessly into Qiagen's Sample to Insight portfolio.

The purchase of Exiqon will help Qiagen to deliver a broad, industry-leading offering of molecular biology solutions, including sample technologies, assay technologies and bioinformatics.

Peer Schatz, chief executive officer of Qiagen, said: "We welcome our new employees to the Qiagen family and look forward to providing the exciting benefits of the now-combined portfolio to research and diagnostic laboratories."

This comes after the firm recently announced a new collaboration with Weill Cornell Medicine that aims to map microbial genomes in 54 cities.