DFJ Esprit's Oxford Immunotec to float

Ellie Pullen
12 November 2013

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Oxford Immunotec Global, a UK-based medical diagnostics company, has filed with the US Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an IPO on the Nasdaq that would value the company at up to $245.4m.

The company plans to sell 5.36 million shares at $13-15 per unit, meaning the company stands to raise up to $80.4m in its IPO. The SEC filing also refers to an over-allotment option of 804,000 additional shares.

The proposed share price range would give Oxford Immunotec a market cap of up to $245.4m.

According to the SEC filing, Clarus Ventures is the company's biggest shareholder with a 24.3% stake, which is to be diluted to 16.2% following the offering. New Leaf Venture Partners (NLVP) holds a 13% stake in the company (to be diluted to 8.6% post-IPO) and DFJ Esprit owns a 10.1% stake (to be diluted to 6.7%).

Oxford Immunotec's smaller venture capital backers include: Imperial Innovations and Invesco, both of which hold a 7.9% shareholding; Wellington Partners, which owns a 7.7% stake, and Quester (now owned by Spark Ventures), which holds 5.8%. The firms' stakes will be diluted following the IPO to 5.2% (for both Imperial and Invesco), 5.1% for Wellington and 3.9% for Quester/Spark.

JP Morgan and Piper Jaffray have been appointed as joint book runners for the flotation.

Although the company has not yet stated when it will make its debut on the stock market, it plans to trade its shares under the ticker symbol "OXFD" on the Nasdaq.

Oxford Immunotec first received funding in November 2003 from Quester (now Spark). The firm committed £2.5m to the company.

The business then secured a further £7m in July 2005 from co-leads DFJ Esprit and Spark alongside Top Technology Ventures. DFJ Esprit supplied £2.75m while Spark provided £2.25m, according to unquote" data.

DFJ Esprit then took part in a $40m funding round for Oxford Immunotec alongside Clarus and Wellington, both of which led the investor syndicate. DFJ Esprit supplied $2.6m to the round to maintain its 16% stake in the business.

In April 2010, an international syndicate of investors injected $26m into the company. The syndicate comprised existing backers DFJ Esprit, Clarus, Wellington and Spark as well as Kaiser Permanente Ventures, National Technology Enterprises Company and lead investor NLVP.

The company's most recent funding round took place in June last year and pulled in $28m. All existing investors plus Imperial Innovations and Invesco backed the company, with the two new investors leading the round and supplying $9.5m each. Imperial Innovations took a 7% stake in the business.

Founded in 2002, Oxford Immunotec is headquartered in Abingdon with US headquarters located in Marlborough, Massachusetts and an additional office in Kawasaki, Japan. The company employs 151 staff and recorded turnover of $20.7m in 2012, as well as a loss before tax of $12.1m.

Oxford Immunotec develops diagnostic blood tests for tuberculosis (TB). The company's product, T-Spot, is a cellular blood test for the detection of TB. It works by measuring a person's immune response to an infection and identifies if a human body is producing specific cells, called effector T cells, which are produced to fight an infection. The diagnostic platform is designed to detect both latent and active TB infection.

Peter Wrighton-Smith is the CEO of Oxford Immunotec. The company's board of directors includes Nigel Pitchford, who was a partner at DFJ Esprit until 2011 and is now a director at Imperial Innovations; Michael Steinmetz, a managing director at Clarus; and NLVP managing director Vijay Lathi.