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VC-backed uniQure raises $91.8m in IPO

  • Ellie Pullen
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Venture capital-backed Dutch gene therapy company uniQure raised well above its original expectation in its listing on the Nasdaq, bagging $91.8m.

The company had originally hoped to raise $75m.

The offering gave uniQure a market cap of $285.5m. It began trading on the Nasdaq on Wednesday 5 February, under the ticker symbol "QURE".

The company sold 5.4 million shares at a price of $17 each. An additional 810,000 ordinary shares have been granted for purchase as an over-allotment option.

The company is backed by Coller Capital, Forbion Capital Partners, Advent Venture Partners and Gilde Investment Management.

Forbion, Coller and Gilde have all upped their stakes in the company through the flotation, collectively acquiring approximately 1.2 million shares for a total price of $21.1m. Coller has acquired an additional 1 million shares for $17.5m, while Forbion has bought 58,800 shares for $1m and Gilde purchased 79,400 for $1.35m.

Jefferies and Leerink Swann were appointed joint bookrunners for the flotation, while Piper Jaffray acted as lead manager.

News of uniQure's planned flotation first came to light when it submitted a confidential F-1 filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission in November last year.

Previous funding
uniQure was formed in 2012 following the liquidation of NYSE Euronext-listed Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics (AMT). AMT was delisted and its entire business acquired by the new private entity, which was established and owned by Forbion. Forbion provided €6m in funding to uniQure as part of the transaction.

Gilde Healthcare, Forbion and Advent were shareholders of AMT prior to its liquidation, alongside Omnes Capital. The four firms had committed €22m to AMT in its series-A funding round in October 2006.

In June 2007, AMT listed on the NYSE Euronext Amsterdam, raising a total of approximately €55.7m (including the partial exercise of the over-allotment option) and giving it a market cap of €139m. In December 2011, the company raised €2.5m in a private placement from Forbion, Gilde Healthcare and Advent. The company subsequently went into liquidation in February last year.

New investor Coller then led a €14.1m round for uniQure in May this year, with Coller, Forbion and Gilde Healthcare supplying €13.5m to the company in the form of a convertible loan. The remaining €600,000 was provided by uniQure staff. In July, uniQure converted the loan to equity alongside a €31m capital injection from Chiesi Farmaceutici.

Company
Amsterdam-headquartered uniQure develops human gene-based therapies. Its Glybera product is designed to treat lipoprotein lipase (LPL) deficiency, a mutation in the LPL-coding gene that causes a lack of ability to produce the LPL enzymes needed to break down fatty acids.

In the nine months to September 2013, uniQure generated €2m in revenues. The company was founded in 1998 as AMT, and currently employs 87 staff.

People
Jörn Aldag is the CEO of uniQure. The company's board of directors includes Forbion managing partner Sander Slootweg and Gilde Healthcare managing partner Edwin de Graaf.

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