Thermo Fisher Scientific  confirmed in a prospectus supplement that it is in part financing its $11.5 billion purchase of Qiagen with an offering worth $2.2 billion.

The offering includes $1.1 billion in 4.133% senior notes due in 2025 and another $1.1 billion in 4.497% senior notes due in 2030. Thermo Fisher said in its prospectus that it will pay interest on the notes semi-annually in arrears on March 25 and Sept. 25 of each year, beginning on Sept. 25, 2020.

Thermo Fisher may redeem some or all of the notes at any time and from time to time at the applicable redemption prices, according to the supplemental prospectus. There is no sinking fund for the notes.

On March 3, Thermo Fisher and Qiagen announced that their boards had approved the $11.5 billion acquisition. Both companies anticipate the transaction will be completed in the first half of 2021.

Along with the $2.2 billion offering from Thermo Fisher, the company plans to finance the purchase price, which includes the repayment of Qiagen’s debts, with cash on hand and the net proceeds from additional issuances of debt. Thermo Fisher said it is evaluating alternatives for future financings and, at the time of its prospectus, has up to a little more than $10 billion (€9.25 billion) of committed bridge financing, which it does not expect to use.

On March 13, the FDA gave Thermo Fisher emergency use authorization (EUA) for its TaqPath COVID-19 Combo Kit diagnostic test that certain U.S. laboratories can use to detect SARS-CoV-2, the type of coronavirus that causes coronavirus. Labs can produce the test’s results in four hours, according to ThermoFisher.

At the time, the company said it has 1.5 million tests available to ship under the EUA label to be distributed to approximately 200 labs in the U.S. Thermo Fisher said it expects to quickly ramp up to reach 2 million tests per week and could produce up to 5 million tests per week during April based on the availability of raw materials and an installed instrument base.