Mercia Technologies PLC £6.5m syndicated investment into Oxford Genetics (2475U)
March 28 2019 - 3:01AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMMERC
RNS Number : 2475U
Mercia Technologies PLC
28 March 2019
RNS 28 March 2019
Mercia Technologies PLC
("Mercia")
Mercia invests GBP0.4million as part of a GBP6.5million
syndicated investment into Oxford Genetics
Mercia Technologies PLC (AIM: MERC), the national investment
group focused on the identification, creation, funding and scaling
of innovative technology businesses with high-growth potential from
the UK regions, is pleased to announce that its portfolio company,
Oxford Genetics Limited ("Oxford Genetics"), has received
GBP6.5million of new investment in a syndicated round comprising
Canaccord Genuity Limited ("Canaccord") (formerly Hargreave Hale),
Invesco Asset Management Limited ("Invesco") and Mercia. Mercia
invested GBP0.4million as part of the new funding round which now
values Oxford Genetics at an undiluted, post-money valuation of
GBP30.5million.
Today's announcement, which results in Mercia's direct equity
stake reducing to 33.3% (from 40.5%), follows the RNS Reach issued
on 28 February 2019 confirming six new licensing deals, further
highlighting the considerable commercial progress that Oxford
Genetics is making in the rapidly expanding biotechnology
sector.
Oxford Genetics operates in the synthetic biology market
providing world leading technologies and advanced techniques for
drug and gene therapy development. The world's first biologic,
insulin, was brought to the market in the early 1980s and today
approximately 20% of all treatments are biologics, with over a
quarter of new therapeutics approved in the US in 2017 being
biologics. This demonstrates the highly progressive nature of this
expanding sector.
Grown from the foundations of patented DNA engineering methods,
and with 10 patent families covering its diverse technology
portfolio, Oxford Genetics now offers a suite of novel solutions
for gene therapy drug discovery, antibody therapy development and
CRISPR gene editing.
Ryan Cawood, Founder and CEO of Oxford Genetics, said: "This
significant investment round will enable Oxford Genetics to further
secure its market-leading position in the expanding fields of
CRISPR, gene therapy and antibody engineering. Through our
continued investment in automation and optimising our
commercialisation strategy, we aim to maximise shareholder value
and exceed our ambitious growth targets.
Throughout our journey, Mercia's investment model has been
pivotal to Oxford Genetics' current success. The ability to
leverage capital and continued support from Mercia via seed stage
through to later investment rounds has enabled us to attract
excellent syndicate investors onto our share register. We are
excited to welcome Canaccord Genuity onto our share register
alongside Invesco Asset Management and look forward to working with
all of our investors to grow the business over the coming
years."
Dr Mark Payton, Chief Executive Officer of Mercia Technologies
and a non-executive director of Oxford Genetics, said: "We have
backed Oxford Genetics since day one, working closely with Ryan who
has built both an impressive team and a highly scalable business
model. Full year revenue to April 2019 is set to achieve c.300%
growth on last year and the additional investment announced today
will continue to facilitate this growth, as Oxford Genetics moves
from an important domestic business to a global player in this
specialist field of biotech."
Ends
For further information, please contact:
Mercia Technologies PLC +44 (0)330 223 1430
Mark Payton, Chief Executive Officer
Martin Glanfield, Chief Financial
Officer
www.merciatech.co.uk
Canaccord Genuity Limited +44 (0)20 7523 8000
Simon Bridges, Emma Gabriel (NOMAD
and Broker)
Buchanan +44 (0)20 7466 5000
Bobby Morse, Chris Lane, Vicky Hayns,
Stephanie Watson
www.buchanan.uk.com
About Mercia Technologies PLC
Mercia is a national investment group focused on the funding and
scaling of innovative technology businesses with high growth
potential from the UK regions. The Group benefits from 19
university partnerships and offices across the Midlands, the North
of England and Scotland providing it with access to high quality,
regional deal flow. Mercia Technologies PLC is quoted on AIM with
the epic "MERC".
Mercia's 'Complete Capital Solution' initially nurtures
businesses via its third-party funds and then over time Mercia can
provide further funding to the most promising companies, by
deploying direct investment follow-on capital from its own balance
sheet. Mercia has c.GBP500million of assets under management and,
since its IPO in December 2014, has invested over GBP74million
across its direct investment portfolio.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
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