Merck KGaA agreed to acquire Bio-Techne for about $11.3 billion, the company’s largest deal since its 2015 Sigma-Aldrich acquisition. The cash offer of $73 per share comes with a ~36% premium and is designed to strengthen Merck’s life sciences tools footprint across multi-omics, spatial biology, advanced therapeutics and cell therapy-enabling workflows. The transaction also expands Merck’s capabilities in integrated workflow solutions and analytical technologies, adding Bio-Techne’s ProteinSimple system and RNAscope multiplex in situ hybridization technology. Bio-Techne’s planned acquisition of cell culture device maker Wilson Wolf is expected to feed into the combined platform. Merck said it anticipates the deal closing by late 2026 or early 2027, and projects cost synergies of roughly €140 million within about three years post-close.