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Novacyt Secures €4M Debt Facility

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – French diagnostics firm Novacyt said today that it has entered into a €4 million ($4.7 million) unsecured debt facility with an undisclosed institutional investor.

Novacyt said that it would use the proceeds of the facility to support its merger and acquisition strategy, and that it currently has negotiations underway for potential deals with multiple profitable clinical diagnostics companies.

"We are making good progress with our M&A strategy and these funds will allow the company to execute more efficiently and effectively on any potential transaction, which in turn helps to achieve better value," Novacyt CEO Graham Mullis said in a statement. "I am excited by the quality of our current M&A pipeline and look forward to providing an update to shareholders in due course."

The debt facility comprises an initial unsecured advance of €4.0 million with interest payable monthly at 7.5 percent per year, and a convertible bond amortizing monthly over a three-year term with an effective annual interest of 7.5 percent. Novacyt said it has drawn down the advance and can either repay it on or before June 30, 2018 or replace it with the convertible bond.

Earlier this year, Novacyt reported ending 2017 with €4.3 million in cash.

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