Venlo, The Netherlands- QIAGEN NV has entered into a definitive merger agreement with Gentra Systems for $38 million in cash. Gentra, developer, manufacturer and supplier of non-solid phase nucleic acid purification products is focused on the niche market for large-scale blood samples of up to 10 ml. QIAGEN expects the transaction to contribute $6 million in sales in the second half of the year and $14 million in sales in 2007 and to be neutral to EPS in 2006 and accretive by at least $0.01 in 2007. “Gentra is a well established leader in nucleic acid purification consumables and automation for important niche markets such as biobanking and DNA archiving, where larger sample volumes and long term stability are important for customers,” commented QIAGEN CEO Peer M. Schatz. “We believe that this market segment is increasingly attractive due to current trends in molecular diagnostics, biomedical research and translational medicine.” The transaction is subject to the approval of Gentra’s shareholders and is expected to close at the end of the second quarter.