Gimv exits Prosonix in £100m trade sale

The transaction features an initial £70m payment, which will see Gimv reap €7.6m in proceeds. The Belgian VC is divesting alongside remaining shareholders Ventech, Gilde Healthcare Partners, Entrepreneurs Fund, Quest for Growth, and Solon Ventures.

In addition, a £30m deferred payment is expected to follow once one of Prosonix's products receives approval by the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. This would drive the all-cash transaction value up to £100m, according to a regulatory filing made public by Circassia on 15 May.

However, the extra £30m is subject to the product being authorised before 31 December 2017, but will fall down to £15m should the agency's approval come later than 31 December 2016.

According to Gimv, Prosonix shareholders sought a platform to commercialise the aforementioned product. To that end, the firms considered either divesting the business or undertaking further bolt-on acquisitions. In the end, it was deemed more efficient to see Prosonix merge with Circassa and benefit from the new owner's infrastructure for product commercialisation.

Circassia intends to finance the purchase via a £275m placing and open offer. Aside from Prosonix, the funds will support the £139m acquisition of Swedish listed asthma medical diagnostic business Aerocrine.

Circassia has been backed by venture capital firms since 2007, when it raised capital from Imperial Innovations, Lansdowne Partners and Tudor Capital. The three reinvested in four subsequent funding rounds for the Oxford-based vaccine developer in January 2008, December 2009, April 2011 and April 2012 alongside Goldman Sachs and Invesco.

Previous funding
Gimv first invested in Prosonix in May 2012, when it deployed £5.7m in a £17.1m series-B funding round alongside existing investors Ventech, Gilde, Entrepreneurs Fund, Quest for Growth and Solon.

Following the capital injection, Gimv secured a 13.7% stake in Prosonix, while existing shareholders Gilde and Ventech each obtained 16%, while Entrepreneurs Fund secured a 12.7% stake in the company.

Solon's involvement with Prosonix began in November 2007, when it led a £5m round alongside Entrepreneurs Fund and Quest for Growth, according to unquote" data. In July 2011, the three were joined by Ventech and Gilde in a £11.4m financing round led by the latter.

This is the fifth exit by Gimv since the beginning of 2015, as well as the first by the firm outside the Benelux region. In February 2015, Gimv sold its stake in road construction company Viabuild, followed by biotech ActoGenix in the same month and video service XL Video and healthcare business Acertys, both in May.

Company
Founded in 2006, following its spin-off from AEA Technology in 2005, Prosonix is a specialist provider of proprietary ultrasonic process technologies to customers in both the pharmaceuticals and chemicals industries. It focuses on the development of product candidates for the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Headquartered in Oxford, the company currently employs a workforce of 22 and reported losses of £0.4m in the last financial year.

People
Gimv Health & Care was represented by managing partner Bart Diels and partner Karl Nägler. Steve Harris is CEO at Circassia and David Hipkiss holds the same position at Prosonix.

Advisers
Company - Taylor Wessing (Legal); Jefferies International (Corporate finance).

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