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A team from Fieldfisher, led by Tim Bird, Bradley Theobald and Alison Dennis, have acted for prominent London-based biotechnology company, PolyTherics Limited (“PolyTherics”), in relation to its successful fundraising and simultaneous acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Cambridge-based, Antitope Limited (“Antitope”), a transaction which announced on Friday, 26 July, 2013.
Under the terms of the deal PolyTherics will issue shares up to an aggregate value of £13.5 million to fund the merger and provide working capital for the enlarged group. Imperial Innovations (AIM: IVO) led the investment and brought in new investor Invesco Perpetual with further funds provided by Mercia Fund Management and Advantage Enterprise & Innovation Fund.
The transaction presented a complex logistical challenge involving simultaneous separate but interlinked negotiations of the acquisition (led by Bradley Theobald) and funding (led by Tim Bird), alongside vendors (represented by Niall McAllister of Edwards Wildman) and an Imperial Innovations led syndicate of investors (Imperial Innovations and Invesco Perpetual were represented by James Gubbins and Andrew Dalton of Covington & Burling).
PolyTherics has an extensive suite of proprietary technologies that enable the development of better biopharmaceutical products. Antitope provides immunogenicity testing, antibody humanization, protein engineering and cell line development. The merger brings together complimentary technologies and is a significant step forward for PolyTherics growth strategy in creating a market leading intellectual property platform focused upon technologies for improving the efficacy and reliability of biopharmaceutical products.
The transaction represents PolyTherics first instruction of Fieldfisher, building upon the existing and ongoing relationship between the company and Bradley Theobald’s boutique practice, Theobald Associates.