Trinity Delta £25.1m ($31.0m) successully raised

£25.1m ($31.0m) successully raised

Lighthouse | 5 May 2020

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MaxCyte has raised £25.1m, equivalent to $31.0m, (£23.6m or $29.1m net of expenses) through a combination of a placing for £7.3m, $9.0m, and a subscription for £17.8m, $22.0m. The offering was significantly oversubscribed. The issue price was 131p, a discount of 10% on the mid-price on 24^th April (the timing of the non-binding term sheets).
The offering was led by two specialist life sciences investors, Casdin Capital in New York and Sofinnova in Paris. These investors will help underpin the plan to seek an additional listing on NASDAQ within 12-18 months. The value of having such renowned cross-over investors should not be under-estimated, as they are more often instrumental in making such dual listings successful over the longer term.
The NASDAQ listing will be an important positioning point when seeking to form additional long-term commercial partnerships with the leading cell therapy players, which are typically US based and NASDAQ listed.
The funds will primarily bolster the balance sheet as management seeks to capitalise on MaxCyte’s unrivalled expertise with flow electroporation, with its ExPERT platform increasingly recognised as a key element of producing many of the next-generation cell therapies.
The monies will be used primarily to expand MaxCyte’s product and technology offerings, and its sales, marketing and field technical support functions as the number of licensed programmes continues to rise (now more than 100, of which 70+ are for clinical use). Other areas for investment include optimisation of the supply chain and development of other related assets to expand the company’s offerings.
The issue sees 19.2m additional shares (c 25% of the enlarged share base), which remain subject to approval at the 21^st May meeting, with trading starting the following day. The placing stock and Sofinnova subscription stock will trade in a new restricted line of stock under the symbol MXCL. The Casdin subscription stock will trade under the existing symbol MXCT.

Trinity Delta view: MaxCyte is the clear leader in non-viral cell modification, with its proven flow electroporation platform being at the heart of the new generation of cell therapies. The additional funds will bolster sales and marketing efforts, production infrastructure, and development opportunities. The two new key investors bring valuable external validation of Maxcyte’s prospects and the strength of management’s strategy. We view the plan to seek a dual listing on NASDAQ positively, as this can be particularly helpful when striking major collaborative deals with fast-growing US companies. We aim to include this fund raise in our valuation as soon as practicable. For context, our prior valuation was £195m, or 341p/share, with the core business excluding CARMA worth £111m.

Lighthouse

5 May 2020


Price	155.0p
Market Cap	£89.0m
Primary exchange	AIM London
Sector	Healthcare
Company Code	MXCT MXCL

Corporate client	Yes

Company description

MaxCyte uses its patented flow electroporation platform to transfect a wide array of cells. Revenues arise from sale and lease of equipment, disposables and licence fees; with an impressive client list. Additionally, a novel mRNA mediated CAR technology, known as CARMA, is being explored in various cancers, including solid tumours.

Analysts

Lala Gregorek
lgregorek@trinitydelta.org
+44 (0) 20 3637 5043

Franc Gregori
fgregori@trinitydelta.org
+44 (0) 20 3637 5041

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