One-time property management firm Aliquot Asset Management Limited,now called Revenir Limited, has acquired UK-based biotechnology firm, Bone Limited, in a deal estimated to be worth about $4..5 million.
Revenir bones-up on biotech
One-time property management firm Aliquot Asset Management Limited,now called Revenir Limited, has acquired UK-based biotechnology firm, Bone Limited, in a deal estimated to be worth about $4..5 million.
Revenir will take an 80 per cent stake in Bone by granting 34 million fully paid ordinary shares to current Bone vendors.
The move marks a major change of direction for the listed entity, which had a controversial time last year when, as Aliquot Asset Management, its management faced a shareholder revolt that was ended at the 11th hour, just before a meeting called to spill the board.
Revenir chair Michael Perrott is understood to have made the introductions that led to the Bone acquisition, worth an estimated $4.5 million based on the 34 million shares at a price of 13 cents earlier this week.
Revenir plans a $1.5 million capital raising through the issue of 2.5 million shares at 60 cents each as part of the deal.
While the acquisition is subject to shareholder and ASX approval, the prospectus for the capital raising is expected to be lodged with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission on June 21. The closing date for the share offer under the prospectus is scheduled for July 16.
Revenir’s shares will be suspended from ASX trading from July 14 and then re-listed as the merged entity, called Bone Medical Limited, on July 23.
Bentley-based Bluewater Capital will be responsible for finance and administration of the merged company.
Bluewater is linked to Leon Ivory, a former director of two biotechnology companies that attracted high-profile controversy in recent years, VRI Biomedical and Cortecs Plc.
Bone Limited has a portfolio of projects for the treatment of bone diseases, including osteoporosis and rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, the rights for which it owns through exclusive global licences from subsidiaries of UK-based Proxima Concepts.
Key staff will include Perth-based Bone Limited chief operating officer John Fitzgerald, Europe-based CEO Dr Jim Phillips (who is a former business franchise director with Swiss-based pharmaceutical giant Novartis), and chief scientific officer Dr Roger New, who is also the co-founder of Proxima Concepts.
As part of the deal, Dr Phillips will join the Revenir board, along with two other Bone directors, described as industry specialists, Chris Bilkey and Glen Travers.
Western Australian-educated Mr Travers was CEO of Cortecs, which made a spectacularly successful transition from the Australian stock market to a UK listing in the mid-1990s, but became embroiled in publicity surrounding his remuneration package and company-funded lifestyle.
Mr Fitzgerald said Bone had several projects at various stages, some of which were in the preclinical animal and clinical human testing phase. He said the crucial point of difference of Bone Limited’s potential treatments and those already available was that Bone’s treatments could be administered orally rather than via injection, infusion or nasal spray.
“If you can bring in an oral preparation you will gain most of that market segment,” he said.
Mr Fitzgerald said Australia was well placed to position itself as a key location for drugs development for the biopharmaceutical industry.
The high quality of Australian scientists, relative cost advantage when compared with Europe or the US, and recent regulatory changes in Europe that required the completion of two human trials before a company could list on the London Stock Exchange, were factors in Australia’s favour.
“We are looking to do both preclinical and clinical work in Western Australia,” Mr Fitzgerald said.
“Australia has an enormous opportunity to become significant in preclinical trials because of what happened in Europe.
“If we do it in Australia it’s with a dollar sign in front of it, if we do it in the UK it’s with a pound sign in front of it, which means that there is a very good reason to do business down here.”
In a statement to the ASX, Mr Fitzgerald said some of the major pharmaceutical groups were “already well aware” of the company’s activities.
“One of the major groups has been conducting our pre-trials at no cost to Bone, which has saved the company making significant additional expenditures,” he said in the statement.
“However, we have not had to grant them any pre-emptive rights, which would restrict our ability to negotiate with any other potential partners.”
