Sale of Clinical Lab

RNS Number : 0279G

Novacyt S.A.

18 July 2019

 

Novacyt S.A.

("Novacyt" or the "Company")

Sale of Clinical Lab

Novacyt continues to focus on driving value from its core businesses

Paris, France and Camberley, UK - 18 July 2019 - Novacyt (EURONEXT GROWTH: ALNOV; AIM: NCYT) an international specialist in clinical diagnostics, announces it has completed the sale of its clinical laboratory business (the "Clinical Lab") to Cambridge Pathology BV (the "Buyer") for a total consideration of £400,000. This sale will enable Novacyt to focus more closely on the expansion and value of its core businesses, Primerdesign and Lab21.

The sale of the Clinical Lab follows a strategic review of the Novacyt Group, completed in December 2018. As a result, and as previously announced, the Clinical Lab was deemed to be non-core and not integral to the Company's in vitro diagnostic products focus. The Clinical Lab is a small part of Novacyt's Lab21 business based in Cambridge, UK, which specialises in clinical pathology testing services in oncology and virology. For the financial year ended 31 December 2018, the Clinical Lab reported revenue of €765k, representing less than 6% of the Group's reported revenues, and an EBITDA loss of €96k. The net assets of the Clinical Lab at 31 December 2018 were €101k.

Graham Mullis, Group CEO of Novacyt, commented:

"I am pleased to announce the completion of the sale of the Clinical Lab, which allows us to further streamline and focus our operations. Novacyt remains committed to its core strengths of in vitro diagnostics product development, commercialisation and contract manufacturing and we are focused on driving value from Primerdesign and Lab21 products. We will utilise the funds from the transaction for working capital purposes as we continue to expand our product offering and develop new and existing partnerships with global diagnostics companies."  

Dr Tony Cooke, Cambridge Pathology BV, commented:

"We are pleased to acquire the activities of the Clinical Lab from Novacyt. To date, Lab21 has built an outstanding reputation for quality services in molecular biology testing, with a focus on oncology and virology field, and we look forward to working together with the team in order to further expand activities in the United Kingdom and beyond."  

Consideration

The Company is receiving £100,000 in cash on completion and the remaining £300,000 of cash will be received as follows:

i)        £100,000 on 1 September 2019 ("the Retention"); and

ii)       three instalments of £66,667 on the first, second and third anniversary of completion of the sale ("the Deferred Payments").

The Buyer is entitled to set-off against the Retention and Deferred Payments any relevant claims that are agreed between the Buyer and the Company.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014.

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For further information, please refer to www.novacyt.com or contact:

Novacyt SA

Graham Mullis, Chief Executive Officer

Anthony Dyer, Chief Financial Officer

[phone]

SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)

Matthew Johnson / Jamie Spotswood (Corporate Finance)

Vadim Alexandre / Rob Rees (Corporate Broking)

[phone]

WG Partners (Joint Broker)

Nigel Birks / Chris Lee / Claes Spång

[phone]

FTI Consulting (International)

Brett Pollard / Victoria Foster Mitchell/ Mary Whittow

[phone]

[e-mail]/[e-mail]/ [e-mail] 

FTI Consulting (France)

Arnaud de Cheffontaines / Astrid Villette

[phone] / [phone]

[e-mail] / [e-mail]

About Novacyt Group

The Novacyt Group is an international diagnostics business generating an increasing portfolio of in vitro and molecular diagnostic tests.  Its core strengths lie in diagnostics product development, commercialisation, contract design and manufacturing.  The Company's lead business units comprise of Primerdesign and Lab21 Products, supplying an extensive range of high quality assays and reagents worldwide.  The Group directly serves oncology, microbiology, haematology and serology markets as do its global partners, which include major corporates.

For more information please refer to the website: www.novacyt.com

 

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