· Achilles is focused on developing personalised T cell therapies for the treatment of solid tumours, specifically targeting neo-antigens
· Achilles has announced the pricing of its initial public offering at a price of $18 per ADS for total gross proceeds of approximately $175.5 million (£127.8 million[1])
· Syncona will retain a stake of 27.0 per cent in Achilles[2]; its total shareholding following the IPO is valued at £145.4 million[3], an increase in value of £50.6 million (7.5p per share)
Syncona Ltd (LON:SYNC), a leading healthcare company focused on founding, building and funding a portfolio of global leaders in life science, has noted that its portfolio company Achilles Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ:ACHL) has announced the pricing of its initial public offering (“IPO”) in the United States of 9,750,000 American Depositary Shares, at an initial public offering price of $18 per ADS for total gross proceeds of approximately $175.5 million (£127.8 million). All ADSs sold in the IPO were offered by Achilles. Each ADS represents one ordinary share of Achilles. The ADSs are expected to begin trading on The Nasdaq Global Select Market on 31 March 2021 under the ticker symbol “ACHL”.
Following the IPO, Syncona will retain a stake of 27.0 per cent in Achilles[4] (amounting to 11,086,909 ordinary shares), with a total value of £145.4 million[5]. This includes an increase in the value of its current shareholding of £50.6 million (compared to the 31 December 2020 reported value of £94.8 million).
Martin Murphy, CEO of Syncona Investment Management Limited, said: “Today’s milestone is a significant achievement for Achilles as it seeks to deliver its ambition of bringing neo-antigen targeted T-cell therapies to cancer patients. It comes less than five years after Syncona’s first investment at the foundation of the company and we look forward to seeing the company’s continued progress.”
[1] All exchange rates as at 30 March 2021
[2] Fully diluted
[3] Shareholding valued at IPO price
[4] See footnote 2.
[5] See footnote 3.
