Paragon's Apontis Pharma completes IPO

Harriet Matthews
11 May 2021

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Single-pill producer Apontis Pharma, a portfolio company of Paragon Partners, has listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

The company announced its intention to list on 21 April 2021 and set its IPO price range at €18.5-24.5 per share on 30 April 2021, as reported. Provided that the 5.29 million offered shares were fully placed, the company would 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 issued at the time.

Apontis announced that its shares would be priced at €19 apiece on 7 May 2021.

The company's initial listing price was €18.90 per share. At the time of publication, shares were trading at €18.55.

The listing gives Apontis Pharma a market capitalisation of €162m with a total placement volume of €101m.

Paragon will retain a 31% stake in the company, while Apontis Pharma's management will retain a stake of 7%. Proceeds from the IPO are intended to support Apontis Pharma's ongoing product development.

Hauck & Aufhäuser and MM Warburg were mandated as joint bookrunners.

IPOs of sponsor-backed companies expected over the course of May 2021 in the DACH region include Hg Capital's MeinAuto, as well as Finatem-backed HGears, marking a notable change in pace from the sparse numnber of IPOs completed in H1 2020.

Previous funding
Paragon acquired Apontis (formerly known as UCB Innere Medizin) in August 2018 in a carve-out from Belgium-based UCB. The GP deployed equity via Paragon Fund II, which held a final close in July 2014 on €412m and made equity investments of €30-150m. At the time, Apontis generated revenues of €52.9m and employed around 200 staff.

The deal was valued in the €25-50m region, according to a source close to the situation, and was not backed by any debt financing.

Company
Headquartered in Monheim am Rhein, Apontis Pharma produces single pills for the treatment of chronic diseases, including heart conditions and COPD. The company posted revenues of €40m in 2019, according to its latest publicly available accounts. The company said in a statement issued in April 2021 that it posted revenues of €39.2m in 2020 and it expects to generate turnover of €48.5m in 2021.

Apontis employs 190 staff and was formed in 2018 following its carve-out from UCB, although the company was originally founded in 1946, when it was known as Schwarz Pharma.

People
Paragon Partners – Edin Hadzic (managing partner).
Apontis Pharma – Karlheinz Gast (CEO); Thomas Milz (chief product officer).

Advisers
Vendor – McDermott Will & Emery, Simon Weiß, Joseph Marx, Gregor Weigand, Edwin Laurenson, Deniz Tschammler, Monika Richter, Marion von Grönheim, Isabelle Suzanne Müller, Christoph Schäfer, Ardalan Zargari, Philipp Grenzebach, Thomas Gennert, Tom Schäfer (legal).