Paragon-backed Apontis Pharma sets IPO price range

Harriet Matthews
30 April 2021

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Paragon Partners' portfolio company Apontis Pharma has set its IPO price range at €18.5-24.5 per share.

Apontis announced its intention to float in a statement issued on 21 April 2021, as reported.

The company said in a statement that its final offer price per share is expected to be set on or around 6 May 2021, while the first day of trading is expected to be on 11 May 2021.

Based on the price range, Apontis intends to raise proceeds of €40m to fund its growth, including the future development of its single pills and the development and licensing of its current short-term product pipeline.

The total placement amount will be in the €98-130m range. The offer comprises 2 million shares from a cash capital increase, 1.6 million secondary shares from a base deal, 1 million secondary shares from the exercise of an upsize option by Paragon, plus 6.9 million secondary shares in connection with an overallotment option.

Provided that the 5.29 million offered shares are fully placed, the company will have a post-money market capitalisation in the €157-208m range, implying a post-IPO free float of up to 62%, Apontis said in a statement.

Paragon acquired Apontis (formerly known as UCB Innere Medizin) in August 2018 from Belgium-based UCB, deploying equity via Paragon Fund II, which held a final close in July 2014 on €412m and made equity investments of €30-150m.

Monheim am Rhein-based Apontis produces single pills, principally for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, employing a team of 190 staff. The company generated revenues of €39.2m in 2020; it expects to generate revenues of €48.5m in 2021.

Also in the German healthcare space, Cinven's Synlab set its IPO offer price earlier this month in the €18-23 range, as reported, before settling on a final offer price of €18 per share. Unquote sister publication Mergermarket reported that potential investors had been sceptical of the company's projected growth figures, which they maintained were unlikely to correspond to the growth it had experienced as the need for laboratory testing accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic.

Synlab is expected to have a market cap of €4bn, it said in a statement issued on 27 April, with an enterprise value of €5.9bn. In addition to Cinven, the company is also backed by Novo Holdings and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.