BLIRT SA, a biotech firm specializing in producing high-quality enzymes and reagents used in life sciences and global diagnostics, has changed its ownership structure. International biotech company QIAGEN has acquired over 96% of the shares of BLIRT.

“Over recent years, we have intensively grown our business,” said Marian Popinigis, CEO of BLIRT SA. “We have invested, observed trends, and found new markets. This has allowed us to strengthen our position in Poland and abroad. We owe our success to the strategy in which we have focused primarily on our own products, on which BLIRT achieves higher margins. Our growth has been even greater since 2020 when the products we offer contributed to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. So it is no surprise that our company attracted the interest of large international players.”

Marian Popinigis added: “We received an excellent offer to purchase the shares of BLIRT by the large international biotech company QIAGEN. Although BLIRT is in a comfortable financial situation and has trusted business partners, extensive laboratories and a rich range of products, new international ownership presents a great opportunity for the company and its employees. That is why we accepted the offer presented to us.”

Thomas Schweins, Senior Vice President and Head of the Life Sciences Business Area at QIAGEN, commented: “The addition of BLIRT brings highly complementary capabilities that will create additional growth prospects for our enzymes and reagents business. BLIRT will also widen our geographic presence, add new sales channels, strengthen our production and R&D capacities and safeguard our supply chains. This acquisition also supports our strategy of focusing on attractive growth opportunities in the life science and molecular diagnostic markets, and our disciplined approach to value-creating acquisitions.”

Details of the transaction

The new majority shareholder of BLIRT, listed on the NewConnect market since 2011, will be QIAGEN N.V., based in Venlo, the Netherlands. QIAGEN shares are listed on stock exchanges in Frankfurt and New York. Under the agreement, the shares will be sold by significant shareholders of BLIRT, i.e. BLIRT CEO Marian Popinigis, N50 Cyprus Ltd, an entity affiliated with Marian Popinigis, and three individuals from the company’s top management. It will be a total of over 16.1 million shares, constituting 92.1% of the company’s share capital. The sale of shares was preceded by conclusion by a portion of the company’s minority shareholders and QIAGEN of an agreement for them to sell a total of 730,500 shares constituting 4.2% of the company’s share capital.

As agreed between the shareholders and QIAGEN, there will be changes in the company’s authorities. CEO Marian Popinigis will resign, and a management board will be appointed composed of Thierry Bernard as CEO and Roland Sackers and Katarzyna Spirin-Polak as management board members. Wenanty Plichta and Jan Kospin are resigning as members of the supervisory board.

According to Marian Popinigis, CEO of BLIRT SA: “Undoubtedly, synergies will be unleashed in the upcoming years from which everyone will benefit: both companies, customers, distributors, shareholders and employees. BLIRT has a bright future ahead as we observe new growth prospects for the enzyme business in the post-CO VID-19 era. In short, I am proud of having managed the company (directly or indirectly) for the last 14 years and of the place where we are now. But I believe that the new owner has an opportunity for further growth for BLIRT and its employees.”

Recent financial results

In 2021 BLIRT generated sales revenue of PLN 39.8 million (disregarding changes in inventories). Revenue from sales of the company’s products in 2021 accounted for about 79% of total revenue, compared to 72% in 2020. BLIRT closed out 2021 with a net result of PLN 7.6 million.

Sales revenue in the first quarter of 2022 was PLN 8.6 million (disregarding changes in inventories). Revenue from the sale of products manufactured by the company constituted 83% of total revenue, compared to 82% in the reference period. BLIRT completed 1Q 2022 with a net result of PLN 2.4 million.

ABOUT BLIRT

BLIRT is a company with many years of experience specializing in industrial-scale production of high-quality recombinant proteins. The firm also produces kits for isolation of DNA and RNA, as well as reagents for reverse transcription and Real-Time PCR, which have gained wide interest in the B2B sector and are sold to researchers via a global network of distributors.

The kits produced by BLIRT offer high efficiency and user-friendly protocols. All key enzymes and kits are independently manufactured by the company in order to ensure repeatability and the highest quality of products.

The company employs nearly 90 people, including 49 members of the research and manufacturing team, 15 of whom hold a doctorate in molecular biology, biotechnology, biochemistry or organic chemistry. BLIRT has four labs outfitted with top-quality equipment, including two with lines for industrial-scale manufacturing.

More at www.blirt.eu

About QIAGEN N.V.

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. QIAGEN’s sample technologies isolate and process DNA, RNA and proteins from blood, tissue and other materials. QIAGEN provides solutions to more than 500,000 customers around the world in Molecular Diagnostics, Applied Testing, Pharma and other fields. As of December 31, 2021, QIAGEN employed more than 6,000 people in over 35 locations worldwide.

More at www.qiagen.com