Immunocore Prices NASDAQ IPO

RNS Number : 2190O

Schroder UK Public Private Tst plc

05 February 2021

 

Schroder UK Public Private Trust plc (the "Company")

Immunocore Prices NASDAQ IPO

The Company (LSE: SUPP) is pleased to announce that its portfolio company Immunocore Holdings plc ("Immunocore") has announced the pricing of its initial public offering ("IPO") of 9,935,896 American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") representing 9,935,896 ordinary shares at an IPO price of $26.00 per ADS, for total gross proceeds of approximately $258.3 million. Immunocore also raised $15 million in a concurrent private placement. Immunocore's ADSs are expected to begin trading on The Nasdaq Global Select Market ("NASDAQ") on February 5, 2021 under the ticker symbol "IMCR." In addition, Immunocore has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,490,384 ADSs at the initial public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions.

Proceeds from the IPO will be used to advance Immunocore's lead product candidate through the completion of its Phase 3 clinical trial as well as preparing for its commercial launch and to fund the ongoing and planned clinical development of Immunocore's other product candidates.

The Company's stake in Immunocore based on the IPO price and today's foreign exchange rate amounts to approximately 15.8 million, a 23% uplift to the last disclosed fair value estimate of 12.9 million at 30 September 2020 (last disclosed fair value subject to the transaction with Rosetta Capital completing, as announced on 27^th January 2021). Approximately half of the value uplift relates to protections received in Immunocore's pre-IPO funding round in December 2020 resulting in a higher number of shares held by the Company and the other half to an increase in share price. The Company did not participate in the IPO and following the IPO, the Company will retain an approximate 2% stake in the business. All of the Company's shares in Immunocore are restricted from resale for a period of 180 days under market standoff and lock-up agreements although the Company is permitted to complete the sale to Rosetta Capital.

It is anticipated that the Company's AIFM will revalue the holding based on the trading price of Immunocore's ADSs. This will be reflected in the NAV as at 31 March 2021, which is expected to be announced in June 2021.

Tim Creed and Ben Wicks, Portfolio Managers of the Company, commented: "We are proud to have supported Immunocore and its management team in its exciting development. This highly successful IPO, which has been priced above the announced indicative range, underpins the quality of Immunocore's pipeline as well as the innovation, which can emerge from ventures based in the UK if they get the right capital backing. The successful IPO further improves the prospect for the Company to realise the earn-out of up to £5 million it has agreed with Rosetta Capital for the stake the Company will sell as part of a basket of seven assets. Also, the listing will further improve the liquidity profile of the Company's portfolio as it increases the share of quoted investments. We believe that the Company has more investments in its portfolio which have the potential for similarly successful IPOs in the future."

About Immunocore

Immunocore is a late-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of a novel class of TCR bispecific immunotherapies called ImmTAX - Immune mobilizing monoclonal TCRs Against X disease - designed to treat a broad range of diseases, including cancer, infectious and autoimmune. Leveraging its proprietary, flexible, off-the-shelf ImmTAX platform, Immunocore is developing a deep pipeline in multiple therapeutic areas, including five clinical stage programs in oncology and infectious disease, advanced pre-clinical programs in autoimmune disease and multiple earlier pre-clinical programs. Immunocore's most advanced oncology therapeutic candidate, tebentafusp, has demonstrated monotherapy activity in a Phase 2 clinical trial in metastatic uveal melanoma, a cancer that has historically proven to be insensitive to other immunotherapies, and is currently being studied in an ongoing Phase 3 clinical trial.

Enquiries:

Schroder Investment Management Limited

Gareth Faith

Tel: [phone]

 

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