Mesoblast Limited Completes $176 Million Private Placement
Regenerative medicine company Mesoblast Limited recently announced it has completed a private placement of its shares, raising A$170 million. Mesoblast now has cash reserves of approximately A$332 million.
Under the placement, 26,970,979 fully paid ordinary shares were issued at A$6.30 per share, a discount of 2.2% to the closing price of the company’s shares on March 1, 2013. The total shares on issue have now increased by 9.4% to 314,811,301. The shares were placed to a select group of existing strategic investors and new US and global institutional funds, including M & G Investment Management and Capital Research. As a result of the placement, Mesoblast’s free float has increased by approximately 16.5%, which may positively impact the company’s weighting within the S&P/ASX 200 index.
In determining Mesoblast’s free float under S&P/ASX methodology, strategic shareholdings of Mesoblast alliance partner Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and Mesoblast Chief Executive Silviu Itescu, both of which remain unchanged post the placement, are not included. The intended uses of these funds are for continued development of Mesoblast’s proprietary Mesenchymal Precursor Cell (MPCs) technology platform, specifically:
“¢ a Phase III clinical trial using MPCs for treatment of degenerative disease of the lumbar spine
“¢ new Phase II clinical trials to broaden the indications for intravenous delivery of MPCs in the treatment of systemic inflammatory conditions
“¢ optimization of MPC manufacturing processes and increased product inventory
“¢ staff and overheads
Mesoblast Limited is a world leader in the development of biologic products for the broad field of regenerative medicine. Mesoblast’s patented Mesenchymal Precursor Cell (MPC) technology is being developed for an extensive range of major clinical diseases, including inflammatory and immunologic conditions of the joints and lungs, diabetes and kidney disease, orthopedic spine conditions, and cardiovascular disorders. For more information, visit www.mesoblast.com.
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