NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Curetis today announced its intent to issue an initial public offering of new ordinary shares in Europe.
The firm, which is based in Germany, also announced a newly incorporated holding company in the Netherlands.
The offering will consist of newly issued ordinary shares through a public offering to retail and institutional investors in Germany and a private placement to certain institutional and other investors elsewhere, the firm said in a statement. Curetis noted that some of its current shareholders intend to subscribe for approximately €15 million ($17.2 million) in new shares, but did not disclose how much it hopes to raise in the offering.
The company plans to list on Euronext in Amsterdam and Euronext in Brussels.
Curetis makes the CE-marked PCR-based Unyvero molecular diagnostic platform for detecting microorganisms and markers of antibiotic resistance.
Curetis said it plans to use the proceeds from the offering to build a marketing, sales, and support presence in the US to commercialize the Unyvero System; advance its pipeline of Unyvero cartridge-based assays for Europe, the US, and other markets; expand and strengthen its European presence; expand manufacturing capacity; and for general corporate purposes.
RBC Capital Markets and Bank Degroof Petercam will be joint bookrunners for the offering while ICF Bank will be the joint lead manager. RBC Capital Markets is also be the sole global coordinator for the offering.
Last month, Curetis signed a deal making Beijing Clear Biotech the exclusive distributor of Unyvero in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. A year ago, the firm closed an $18 million extension of its Series B financing round.