Leading Healthcare Investor MVM Life Science Partners Acquires
7.5% Shareholding in Valneva
- Funds managed by MVM Life Science Partners LLP ("MVM") to
invest a total of €15.2 million in a simultaneous private placement
of 2.9 million newly issued shares and purchase of a further
tranche of existing shares
- Issue price of €2.60 per share corresponds to the volume
weighted average trading price of the previous three trading
sessions
- Dr. Bali Muralidhar to join Valneva's Supervisory Board as
MVM representative
Lyon (France), December 1,
2016 - Valneva SE ("Valneva" or "the Company"),
afullyintegrated, commercial stage biotech company focused on
developing innovative lifesaving vaccines, today announced that MVM
Life Science Partners LLP ('MVM'), a specialist healthcare
investor based in London and Boston with more than $700 million
under management, has acquired a 7.5% shareholding
in the Company. MVM will be entitled to an investor director
representative, to be appointed to Valneva's Supervisory Board by
the next annual shareholders meeting.
Thomas Lingelbach, President and CEO, and
Franck Grimaud, Deputy CEO of Valneva, commented, "MVM's
investment in Valneva is a strong endorsement of our growth
strategy and an important step in our initiative to broaden our
shareholder base. We are delighted to welcome such a renowned
healthcare investor on board, who can help us in continuing to
develop Valneva by bringing expertise, networks and financial
resources."
Dr. Bali Muralidhar, a partner at MVM,
added, "Valneva is uniquely positioned in having deep domain
expertise in vaccine discovery, development and commercialisation
within one independent company. We look forward to supporting the
growth of the current commercial vaccine franchise both organically
and inorganically. The company has a rich pipeline of vaccine
products in development and we are particularly excited to be part
of a company that has the opportunity to bring a novel Lyme vaccine
to unserved patients in the US and EU."
The investment by MVM is being made by means of
a combined private placement and share purchase. The transaction is
expected to close on December 14, 2016. The issuance of 2,884,615
new primary shares will result in proceeds of €7.5 million for
Valneva and will bring the Company's total number of ordinary
shares to 77,582,714. Together with the purchase of a further
tranche of shares from undisclosed shareholders of the Company, MVM
will own 7.5% of Valneva's ordinary shares at the close of the
combined transaction.
Valneva's current key shareholders, Groupe
Grimaud and BPI France, did not participate in the transaction
through any sale or purchase of shares and will still own 15.6% and
9.6%, respectively, of the Company's ordinary share capital after
the transaction. Both shareholders have committed to vote for the
appointment of Dr. Bali Muralidhar as a new member of Valneva's
supervisory board in the next Annual General Shareholder meeting,
expected to take place in June 2017. In the meantime, Dr.
Muralidhar will join the supervisory board as an observer.
Valneva intends to use the net proceeds of the
private placement to fund the development of its clinical stage
vaccine products and to accelerate worldwide commercialization
activities.
About MVM Life Science Partners LLP
MVM Life Science Partners LLP, founded in 1997,
is a leading global healthcare Venture Capital / Private Equity
firm based in London and Boston who manages four funds totalling
over US$700 million. MVM invests across the Life Sciences market
including biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics, drug delivery, gene
therapy, medical devices, OTC medicines, research tools and
vaccines. The MVM team has broad experience across the Life Science
and Venture Capital / Private Equity markets. For more information:
www.mvm.com
About Valneva SE
Valneva is a fully integrated vaccine company
that specializes in the development, manufacture and
commercialization of innovative vaccines with a mission to protect
people from infectious diseases through preventative medicine.
The Company seeks financial returns through
focused R&D investments in promising product candidates and
growing financial contributions from commercial products, striving
towards financial self-sustainability.
Valneva's portfolio includes two commercial
vaccines for travelers: IXIARO®/JESPECT® indicated for the
prevention of Japanese encephalitis and DUKORAL® indicated for the
prevention of cholera and, in some countries, prevention of
diarrhea caused by ETEC. The Company has proprietary vaccines in
development including candidates against Clostridium difficile and
Lyme Borreliosis. A variety of partnerships with leading
pharmaceutical companies complement the Company's value proposition
and include vaccines being developed using Valneva's innovative and
validated technology platforms (EB66® vaccine production cell line,
IC31® adjuvant).
Valneva is listed on Euronext-Paris and the
Vienna stock exchange and has operations in France, Austria, Great
Britain, Sweden, Canada and the US with over 400 employees. More
information is available at www.valneva.com.
Contacts
Laetitia
Bachelot-Fontaine Teresa
Pinzolits
Head of Investor
Relations Communications
Specialist
& Corporate
Communications T
+43-1-206 20-1116
T
+02-28-07-14-19
M +43-676-84 55 67 357
M +33 (0)6 4516
7099 communications@valneva.com
investors@valneva.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain
forward-looking statements relating to the business of Valneva,
including with respect to the progress, timing and completion of
research, development and clinical trials for product candidates,
the ability to manufacture, market, commercialize and achieve
market acceptance for product candidates, the ability to protect
intellectual property and operate the business without infringing
on the intellectual property rights of others, estimates for future
performance and estimates regarding anticipated operating losses,
future revenues, capital requirements and needs for additional
financing. In addition, even if the actual results or development
of Valneva are consistent with the forward-looking statements
contained in this press release, those results or developments of
Valneva may not be indicative of their in the future. In some
cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as
"could," "should," "may," "expects," "anticipates," "believes,"
"intends," "estimates," "aims," "targets," or similar words. These
forward-looking statements are based largely on the current
expectations of Valneva as of the date of this press release and
are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and
uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results,
performance or achievements to be materially different from any
future results, performance or achievement expressed or implied by
these forward-looking statements. In particular, the expectations
of Valneva could be affected by, among other things, uncertainties
involved in the development and manufacture of vaccines, unexpected
clinical trial results, unexpected regulatory actions or delays,
competition in general, currency fluctuations, the impact of the
global and European credit crisis, and the ability to obtain or
maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property
protection. In light of these risks and uncertainties, there can be
no assurance that the forward-looking statements made during this
presentation will in fact be realized. Valneva is providing the
information in these materials as of this press release, and
disclaim any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise
any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events, or otherwise.
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