Completion of Acquisition of

RNS Number : 2305O

Avacta Group PLC

03 March 2009

 



Avacta Group plc

('Avacta' or 'the Company')

Completion of Acquisition of Curidium Medica plc/Issue of Equity/

Board Changes/Director-PDMR Shareholding

Avacta Group plc (AIM: AVCT.L) which develops innovative detection and analysis technology aimed primarily at the pharmaceutical and diagnostics markets, is pleased to announce that all of the conditions pursuant to the recommended offer for Curidium Medica plc (the 'Acquisition') have been satisfied and the Acquisition has therefore been completed. 

Accordingly, application has been made for 274,679,825 new ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each ('Ordinary Shares')  to be issued in connection with the Acquisition  and dealings are expected to commence at 8:00 am on Thursday 5 March 2009.  In accordance with the Circular to shareholders, the new Ordinary Shares will be allotted on 4 March 2009.

Further to the announcement made on 9 January 2009,  the Directors of Avacta are pleased to confirm that Dr Barry Porter (aged 51) has joined the board of the Company as a Non-Executive Director, with immediate effect.   Simon Webster, Kurt Baldwin and Russell Hodgetts have resigned as executive directors but remain as key employees of the Company and will sit on the newly created operating board. 

Following the issue of the new Ordinary Shares, the issued share capital of Avacta is 1,118,240,649, which figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the FSA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

The following information in respect of Dr Barry Porter is disclosed pursuant to Rule 17, Schedule Two, paragraph (g):

Current Appointments:

Union Life Sciences Ltd

Curidium Medica plc

InhibOx Ltd

Past Appointments:

ReOx Ltd

De Novo Pharmaceuticals Ltd

Save for the above, there is no further information to disclose.

3 March 2009

Enquiries:

Avacta Group plc Alastair Smith, Chief Executive Officer Tim Sykes, Chief Financial Officer www.avacta.com	Tel: [phone]
Daniel Stewart & Company plc Lindsay Mair/Charlotte Stranner/Tessa Smith www.danielstewart.co.uk	Tel: [phone]
Novum Securities Limited Henry Turcan	Tel: [phone]
Haggie Financial LLP Nicholas Nelson/Kathy Boate	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]

Notes to Editors:

Avacta was spun-out from the University of Leeds in 2004 by its current management team as a biophysics company, with the aim of combining the disciplines of physics and biology to develop innovative technologies and expert technical services to address needs in the pharmaceutical, defence and clinical diagnostics markets. Avacta has a core bio-analytical technology development programme addressing the needs of the biopharmaceutical sector to fully characterise their new products at the earliest stage in their development to reduce the risk of late stage failure. High value solutions in clinical diagnostics are also being targeted for these core bio-analytical technologies and for Avacta's trace gas analysis technology as well as opportunities in industrial and military sensing applications. A successful and growing part of the Avacta business model is its technical services arm, Avacta Analytical Limited, which is focused on providing leading edge contract research to the biopharmaceutical and healthcare/personal-care materials sectors. Avacta listed on AIM in August 2006 through the reverse takeover of Readybuy plc which changed its name to Avacta Group plc.

 

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