The Board of Directors of BICO Group AB has exercised the authorization granted by the Annual General Meeting to issue up to 6,408,626 class B shares (“New Shares”) in full, equivalent to ten percent of outstanding shares in the company prior to the transaction, through a directed share issue to Sartorius AG.
“The strategic collaboration with Sartorius is expected to significantly expand our presence and accelerate growth in Asia-Pacific, where BICO today has considerable expansion potential. BICO will get access to value-adding, complementary technologies and products, which will enhance our current customer offering within bioprinting and lab automation. We consider the Sartorius ownership in BICO as a verification of the BICO growth strategy,” said Erik Gatenholm, CEO and co-founder of BICO.
Headquartered in Göttingen, Germany, the Sartorius Group is a leading international partner of life science research and the biopharmaceutical industry and is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, with a market capitalization of approximately EUR 23 billion. The company has been annually growing by double digits on average and has been regularly expanding its portfolio by acquisitions of complementary technologies. In fiscal 2021, Sartorius earned sales revenue of some 3.45 billion euros. At the end of 2021, nearly 14,000 people were employed at the Group’s approximately 60 manufacturing and sales sites, serving customers around the globe.
Manufacturing on Demand
With innovative laboratory instruments and consumables, the Group’s Lab Products & Services division concentrates on serving the needs of laboratories performing research and quality control at pharma and biopharma companies and those of academic research institutes. The Bioprocess Solutions division with its broad product portfolio focusing on single-use solutions helps customers to manufacture biotech medications and vaccines safely and efficiently.
“The cooperation with BICO will enable us to jointly strengthen our activities in very dynamic fields like advanced cell models and digital workflows in drug research and development. We will further enhance the position of both companies in the fast-growing Asian markets with highly differentiating and relevant technologies. We are convinced that the strategic partnership and the investment in BICO will create value for both parties,” said Gerry Mackay, member of the Executive Board and Head of the Lab Products & Services Division of Sartorius.
The subscription price of the Share Issue amounts to SEK 76.00, equivalent to a premium of 2.7 percent compared to the volume-weighted average price of the last three (3) trading days for BICO’s class B shares on Nasdaq Stockholm preceding 8 December. Through the Share Issue, the Company will receive gross proceeds of approximately SEK 487m, before transaction costs, and will upon settlement result in ownership for Sartorius of approximately 9.1 percent of the shares and 7.6 percent of the voting rights in BICO, following the transaction. Added to Sartorius’ already existing holding in BICO, the total ownership amounts to approximately 10.1 percent of the shares and 8.5 percent of the voting rights.
In conjunction with the Share Issue, BICO and Sartorius have agreed on a comprehensive technology as well as sales and marketing cooperation. As part of the partnership, both companies will enter into a research & development collaboration relating to 3D cell printing and associated technologies as well as digital solutions for cell line development workflows. Additionally, it was agreed that Sartorius will become a distributor of BICO products in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.
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Author: VoxelMatters
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