VC-backed Horizon Discovery raises £68.6m for IPO

Ellie Pullen
24 March 2014

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Horizon Discovery Group, a Cambridge-based biotech backed by DFJ Esprit and Roche Venture Fund among others, has raised ТЃ68.6m for its IPO on the AIM of the London Stock Exchange.

The offering gives Horizon a market cap of £120.5m.

The company has sold approximately 38 million shares at a price of £1.80 apiece. Of the total amount, £40m will go to the company, with the balance raised from the sale of existing shares by shareholders.

The amount raised is significantly higher than the proceeds that the company had expected to generate. In February, Horizon announced its plans to raise around £25m in its IPO.

The company's stock will commence trading on the AIM segment of the LSE on Thursday (27 March), under the ticker "HZD". Panmure Gordon was appointed as nominated adviser and broker for the flotation.

UK biotechs and their venture backers have witnessed a promising start to the year for potential IPOs. Earlier this month, Invesco Perpetual-backed Circassia, a UK pet allergy treatment developer, raised £209m in its IPO on the LSE. The offering gave the company a market cap of £581m.

Horizon is backed by DFJ Esprit, Roche, MVM Life Science Partners, Calculus Capital and Providence Investment Company, according to unquote" data.

Previous funding
Horizon first received £150,000 in seed funding in 2008 from Cambridge Enterprise Seed Funds and AbCam. This was followed in September 2010 by a £6.25m funding round led by DFJ Esprit, with participation from Roche and private investors.

In September 2011, MVM led an £11.3m round for the company alongside DFJ Esprit, Roche, Providence and private investors Jonathan Milner, David Evans, Peter Collins and David Cleevely.

In June last year, the company secured a further £6.9m from DFJ Esprit, Roche, MVM and Providence, as well as new backer Calculus.

Company
Cambridge-based Horizon was founded in 2005. The company has developed a translational genomics platform, Genesis, which provides a set of gene-editing tools.

Horizon supplies its research tools to organisations that operate within the field of genomics research and the development of personalised medicines. It claims to have an 800-strong client base.

The company employs 80 staff and recorded revenues of £6.6m in 2013, a 70% increase from 2012.

People
Darren Disley is the CEO of Horizon.