Acquisition for Avacta as £5m raised
AVACTA, the diagnostics technology firm, is to use some of the proceeds of a £5.13m share placing to acquire a fellow Yorkshire company.
University of Leeds spinout Avacta is placing more than 1bn shares at 0.5p per share, a 36.31% discount on the closing share price yesterday.
The Wetherby-based AIM-listed group is to use almost £1.5m of the funds to acquire Leeds-based Aptuscan, a company focussed on the development of patented engineered human proteins used for the diagnosis and treatment of disease.
Avacta, which is a supplier of analytical instruments to both the human and animal healthcare sectors, said Aptuscan’s services would allow it to have an alternative to using antibodies in its work, a move which could have technical and commerical advantages.
Alastair Smith, chief executive of Avacta, said the placing and deal followed an “excellent start” to the company’s current financial year and that it had seen growth in sales of its Optim device and launch of its AX-1 range.
Mr Smith said: “The acquisition of Aptuscan would add a disruptive reagents platform to the Avacta portfolio, capable of enhancing the product offerings of both Avacta Analytical and Avacta Animal Health.
“It is this opportunity that has catalysed the placing: to fund the development and integration of the Aptuscan technology, to resource future product development and accelerate the expansion of the AX-1 test range.
“The combination of current and proposed new technologies and intellectual property transforms the scale of Avacta’s opportunities and, following the Placing, can be fulfilled without the need to return to the market. Avacta is set on a very exciting course for the future.”
Other funds raised by the placing will be used to drive revenues and develop new products and intellectual property acquired through the deal.
A team of corporate lawyers at Leeds-based law firm Walker Morris, led by corporate director Emma Stubbs, advised Avacta on the share placing and proposed acquisition.
The placing is set to be ratified at a meeting on January 9.
