Highlights progress in delivering on
long-term plan and outlines attempts to engage constructively with
Dr. Jonathan Milner
Asks shareholders to support the Company and
vote “AGAINST” all resolutions to be proposed at the
EGM
Abcam plc ("Abcam," "Company," "Group") (Nasdaq: ABCM), a global
leader in the supply of life science research tools, today filed
and mailed a shareholder circular (the “Shareholder Circular”)
calling an Extraordinary General Meeting (the “EGM”) to be held on
July 12, 2023 at 2:00pm (BST) || 9:00am (EDT).
The Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”) was required
to call the EGM following the receipt on May 30, 2023 of a notice
from Dr. Jonathan Milner sent pursuant to Section 303 of the
UKCompanies Act 2006. At the EGM, shareholders will consider eight
resolutions proposed by Dr. Milner seeking to, among other things,
remove three of Abcam’s directors and appoint Dr. Milner as a
Director and Executive Chairman of the Company. If passed, these
resolutions would lead to a protracted period of uncertainty and,
ultimately, put the Company’s operations and growth at risk. Abcam
recommends that shareholders vote “AGAINST” all eight of the
resolutions being put forward at the EGM.
The Shareholder Circular, and other materials related to the
EGM, are available at
https://corporate.abcam.com/investors/2023-egm
The letter sent by Abcam to shareholders in connection with the
EGM will accompany the physical mailing of the Shareholder
Circular. The full text of the letter sent to shareholders
follows:
Dear Shareholders,
As owners of Abcam PLC (“Abcam,” the “Company,” “Group,” “we,”
“our,” or “us”), you have a critical decision to make about Abcam
and the future of your investment through an Extraordinary General
Meeting (the “EGM”) scheduled to be held on July 12, 2023 at 2:00pm
(BST) || 9:00am (EDT).
Having missed the deadline for consideration in proper order at
May’s Annual General Meeting (the “AGM”), Dr. Jonathan Milner has
forced Abcam to hold this EGM so that he can attempt to
appoint himself Executive Chairman of the
Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”) and to
remove three directors from the Board, including the current
Chairman and CFO, with no proposed alternative candidates other
than himself.
The net effect of these changes would be a sudden and significant shift in both operational and
executive leadership of Abcam that puts in jeopardy the
Company’s recent momentum as well as its day-to-day operations,
growth strategy and competitive position. Dr. Milner has thus far
failed to articulate to shareholders or the Company what appointing
him to an Executive Chairman role would mean in practice or what
new strategy he is seeking to deploy. Dr. Milner’s “plan” for value
creation is, in reality, not a plan at all. He has promised to
review various items and then formulate a plan – this should be
alarming to shareholders and only underscores how far-removed from
the Company Dr. Milner has become.
It is not surprising that Dr. Milner is not able to articulate a
substantive plan, because Abcam is a fundamentally different
business from the one Dr. Milner left behind when he stepped down
from his role as CEO in 2014. When Dr. Milner stepped down as CEO,
Abcam’s revenue was £128 million and the Company’s market
capitalization was approximately £800 million. Its revenue for the
2022 fiscal year was £362 million and its current market
capitalization is over $4 billion. That is to say that under
Alan Hirzel’s leadership revenues have nearly tripled, growing by
183%, while Abcam has expanded globally and increased its market
share. Alan has successfully driven forward the Abcam
2.0 strategy, a plan put into place to transition the business
away from being a simple broker of third-party antibodies to one
that is now delivering innovative, differentiated and high-quality
products, such as proteomic research reagents and immunoassays, to
researchers around the world.
In executing the Abcam 2.0 strategy, with Alan as CEO and under
the Board’s leadership, Abcam has broadened its focus beyond
antibodies, unlocking massive opportunities in immunoassays,
cellular and biochemical assays and cytokines, as well as focusing
on its higher-margin in-house products. Revenue generated from
in-house products grew by an average rate of 28% across 2021 and
2022 on a constant exchange rate basis and accounted for over 67%
of overall Group revenue in 2022. The Company has also continued to
lead and innovate in the core antibody space, gaining market share
there as well. The nimbleness of Abcam 2.0 means the Company can
now make decisions quickly to flex investment as market dynamics
change.
In addition, Alan has spearheaded an ambitious growth plan,
introduced in 2019, to double revenues and make investments into
the critical infrastructure of the business. This included
expanding and upgrading Abcam’s facilities to become more
efficient, while removing operational constraints to improve
capacity and allow the Company to scale up as demand for its
products increases. A new digital platform and e-commerce system
has replaced ones that were no longer fit for purpose, allowing for
a vastly better digital experience for customers and creating
operational efficiencies that we expect will continue to be
realized well into the future.
We are proud to have outperformed our stated goals. With the
groundwork now in place, we believe Abcam is set to further benefit
as costs fall, sales rise and margins improve.
We firmly believe it would be damaging and counter-productive
for Dr. Milner to step into the role of Executive Chairman, to
become de-facto CEO and demote Alan at this critical juncture and
without having articulated a plan. The Board believes this
wholesale change is not in the best interest of creating value for
shareholders. We need your support to protect your investment in
Abcam by voting “AGAINST” all eight of the resolutions.
As you consider your vote at this EGM, it is vital that our
shareholders consider the following questions:
1. Could this costly and distracting EGM have been
avoided? Abcam held its AGM only last month, where Dr. Milner
could have easily raised his concerns for proper consideration and
avoided putting shareholders through this arduous and protracted
process. The Company has tried at every turn to resolve this
dispute amicably, including by meeting Dr. Milner’s initial demand
to be appointed as a Director of the Company. It is now clear that
Dr. Milner has never been interested in resolving this dispute
amicably. Dr. Milner has proceeded to escalate his demands in a
predetermined fashion, with no regard for the inconvenient truth
that his initial request was met. His actions are self-serving and
not in the interest of all shareholders.
2. What value is this level of change putting at risk?
Under the leadership of your Board and with Alan as CEO, Abcam has
unlocked significant momentum. Over the course of Alan’s tenure
prior to COVID-19, Abcam’s total shareholder return (“TSR”) of 178%
outpaced life science tools peers (167%)1 and Russell 3000 (77%).
More recently, in the last twelve months, Abcam’s 27% TSR has
significantly outperformed the same group of life science tools
peers (-12% over the same period). Dr. Milner’s campaign of
disruption endangers this momentum and progress.
3. Does Dr. Milner have the expertise and plan to improve
Abcam’s future value creation potential? Dr. Milner has not
been operationally involved in Abcam for nearly a decade and lacks
the requisite skills and experience to lead the size and scale of
operations at the Company today. He has never, in fact, led a
business with this level of complexity or scale. Even more
concerning, Dr. Milner has not provided a plan detailing how he
will seek to improve Abcam’s future value. He has only provided
broad and generic statements about what it means to run a good
business and a list of items that he would like to review.
Ultimately, his claims that only he can
create value at the Company, unbacked by any concrete solutions or
actionable plan, demonstrate his reckless agenda to retake
executive control of the Company without its or other shareholders’
long-term interests in mind.
THIS COSTLY, DISTRACTING AND UNNECESSARY
CAMPAIGN COULD HAVE BEEN EASILY AVOIDED
The Board has made every effort to engage constructively since
Dr. Milner began agitating for change less than three weeks before
our recent AGM.
The directors of the Company promptly met with Dr. Milner in
good faith to discuss his request to rejoin the Board. All
Non-Executive Directors met with Dr. Milner within 10 days of his request to be reappointed to the
Board, which was made on April 28, 2023. On May 17, the
Board determined that Dr. Milner’s views as founder and a former
Board member could make him a productive member of the Board once
again and offered to re-appoint him to the Board.
Dr. Milner rejected this offer of a Non-Executive Director
position. Dr. Milner then immediately and simultaneously changed
his demand to being appointed Executive Chairman and that the
current Chairman, Peter Allen, be removed. Further, a mere two
hours after first raising these demands, Dr. Milner issued a
lengthy public press release announcing he would be calling for an
EGM. Dr. Milner’s aggressive course of dealing with our Board and
pattern of moving the goalposts makes it abundantly clear that his
agenda all along has been to become de facto CEO.
Despite Dr. Milner’s inconsistent actions, the Board remained
committed to finding a mutually agreeable resolution. In subsequent
meetings set up to avoid this distracting and costly EGM,
Dr. Milner explicitly stated that he must
be appointed Executive Chairman or else he would not rejoin the
Board. Dr. Milner’s aim has been to circumvent
established and proper governance practices. He does not have the
right to simply demand to be appointed de facto CEO, which would
effectively demote our current CEO, only further adding to the
confusing, irrational approach of his campaign.
Dr. Milner stated that he would have been a second-class Board
member. There is no basis for this claim. Dr. Milner was offered a
Non-Executive Director position on the Board that would have
conferred to him all of the rights and obligations of any
Non-Executive Director on the Board. In fact, his demand to be
named Executive Chairman would position all other directors as
second-class Board members. Dr. Milner was asked to review and sign
a settlement agreement consistent with his status as a significant
shareholder joining the Board, which was entirely customary and
in-line with market practice. His ability to be an active, engaged
and productive Board member would have been in no way encumbered by
this agreement. In fact, the purpose of the settlement agreement
was to help ensure he does act in the interest of all
shareholders.
Dr. Milner’s demands to regain executive control of Abcam have
only grown since these talks as he now wants to replace the current
Chairman, CFO and another director without providing any
alternative director candidates for shareholders to vote on except
himself.
None of these demands were raised when he met with the Company.
Moreover, Dr. Milner is unreasonably demanding that we reimburse
him with money from you, the shareholders, for the actions he has
taken in furtherance of his campaign for executive control. This
will include excessive and unnecessary fees for the advisors he has
hired to seize control of the Company, as well as other expenses,
which he is already estimating to be at least $2.5 million. At no
point has Dr. Milner entered into settlement discussions in good
faith. He has clearly had an agenda to cause extraordinary upheaval
from day one that is only now being revealed.
As a result, the Board is recommending that shareholders vote
“AGAINST” all eight of Dr.
Milner’s proposals. Notwithstanding that the Board had previously
invited Dr. Milner to join the Board, his erratic, dysfunctional
and self-serving behavior since then has made it clear that
whatever potential benefits he could have brought to the Board as a
Non-Executive Director are materially outweighed by the risks of
bringing a clearly detrimental presence to the Board that almost
certainly would be focused on undermining our current management
team. His communications make it crystal clear that he sees no
distinction between his return to the Board and his appointment as
Executive Chairman and that he has no interest in being a
Non-Executive Director without the ability to control the executive
team. Support for Dr. Milner’s unnecessary
EGM campaign would only further fuel his ambition to take
management control of Abcam to the detriment of other
shareholders.
ABCAM IS DELIVERING ON ITS LONG-TERM
STRATEGIC GROWTH PLAN
Abcam is a materially different business from the one Dr. Milner
founded and led up to 2014. Executing the Abcam 2.0 model,
the Company focused on its innovation engine with technologies
supporting multiple proprietary proteomics products. Abcam
introduced a customer-led approach to pursue market differentiation
and prioritized in-house development of high quality differentiated
proteomics research reagents. This decision proved to be
transformative for Abcam – in Alan’s first five years as CEO
through 2019, revenues doubled from £128 million to £260 million as
the Company grew to be a global leader in the life sciences
community.
At the 2019 Capital Markets Day, the Company rolled out an
ambitious five-year plan to significantly invest in the business
and make Abcam fit to grow and remain competitive. This plan was
designed to remove key constraints to growth by, for example,
investing heavily in research and development, driving its growth
in revenues from its own products, and building out infrastructure
– digital and manufacturing – to boost efficiency and allow Abcam
to scale up to cater to growing demand from the biopharma end
market. This was critical for Abcam to remain competitive and
generate long-term shareholder value. As a Non-Executive Deputy
Chairman at the time, Dr. Milner was intimately familiar with the
plan and strongly supportive of its adoption.
The plan called for revenues to double again over five years,
while making clear that operating margins would initially decline
as the Company made material investments across the business, from
upgrading its automation and facilities to launching new product
lines in order to strengthen its capabilities centered around
antibodies. Importantly, this plan also included significant
investment to upgrade Abcam’s digital infrastructure, including a
new Oracle Cloud ERP system – a key step in removing scalability
constraints, boosting operational efficiencies and improving
customer experience – as well as a state-of-the-art e-commerce
platform that will be rolled out this summer.
The legacy system was deeply embedded within the organization
and linked to numerous other systems on the order-to-cash process.
Teething issues during the transition to the new ERP system, which
temporarily affected revenues and cash in the second half of 2022,
have been resolved. The ERP system provides a number of benefits,
including a single cloud-based system from which to expand, quicker
integration of acquisitions and removal of the need for expensive
physical infrastructure. Moreover, management continues to see
positive trends in the key performance indicators tracking
implementation and expect further synergies and benefits.
The business is at a critical
inflection point. If we remain on our current course, we
expect continued consistent revenue growth while, over the next 18
months, adjusted operating margins return to pre-2019 levels and
capital expenditure costs fall back to normalized levels. Dr.
Milner either does not understand or has failed to account for the
value destruction his campaign could cause as the Company moves
through this critical inflection point. Further, as a likely
consequence of the recent publicity around the upcoming EGM, the
Company has received strategic inquiries from multiple parties over
recent weeks. The Board of Directors is aware of its fiduciary
duties with respect to strategic inquiries and will work with its
advisors to consider such inquiries as appropriate.
Investments in the business have translated into adjusted
operating profit expansion, with Abcam’s return on capital employed
(ROCE) increasing from 6.8% in the 2020 financial year to 8.9% in
the 2022 financial year. As the Board and management team continue
to execute our strategy, 2023 so far has been a year of refining
investments to build a leading and robust life sciences company
that we believe is capable of consistently driving double-digit
revenue growth. Adjusted operating profit margins are expected to
be greater than 30% in 2024, potentially meeting or exceeding
pre-investment adjusted operating profit margins of 32%, with
further gains to come as the Company continues to leverage the
investments made. Further, in recent weeks, the Company announced
incremental cost savings that we expect to result in a reduction in
annualized run rate operating expenses of more than £15 million by
2024. The implementation of these long-planned changes is already
well progressed.
The Company recently reiterated its 2023 reported revenue
guidance of approximately £420 million to £440 million,
representing 15-20% constant exchange rate revenue growth, and
provided guidance on FY2023 adjusted operating profit margins,
which are expected to be 27-28%.
This is why the Company is able to reaffirm its 2024 revenue
goals of £450 million to £525 million2, with
adjusted operating profit margins of greater than 30%. This
significant financial progress and growth underscores the Company’s
commitment to converting internal investment into long-term
shareholder value and highlights the critical risk of destroying
long-term shareholder value by handing over the reins to Dr. Milner
at this critical juncture.
THE ABCAM BOARD IS WORKING FOR THE BEST
INTERESTS OF ALL SHAREHOLDERS
Abcam’s Board has the right experience, skillsets and deep
knowledge of both the life sciences industry and the Company’s
business model to continue overseeing the successful execution of
our strategy and deliver value to all shareholders and other
stakeholders. This knowledge and experience has been invaluable in
shaping our long-term strategy and executing it successfully, which
has resulted in continued growth in our top-line and our share of
the life sciences research tools market.
The Board benefits from strong gender diversity, as 44% of
current directors are female. This diversity – along with a broader
diversity of perspectives and expertise – allows the Board to
challenge management where appropriate and stress-test
opportunities from multiple angles, leading to more robust
decision-making and better outcomes for our shareholders.
We also recognize the value of refreshment. We continually look
for and embrace opportunities to enhance our Board and have
appointed four Non-Executive Directors to the Board since 2021.
The three individuals that Dr. Milner is targeting – Peter
Allen, Michael Baldock and Sally Crawford – have played essential
roles in overseeing Abcam’s transformation and each have the
critical expertise needed to continue to oversee the Company’s
strategy.
- Mr. Allen has been an integral part of the Board since
his appointment in June 2018. He brings more than 30 years of
experience as an Executive Director, Non-Executive Director and
Chairman in a wide range of life science companies, playing a
significant role in their growth. A chartered accountant by
background, Peter has held multiple Chairman, CEO and CFO roles and
brings substantial experience in M&A, international growth,
fundraising and investor relations, as well as the
commercialization of intellectual property.
- Mr. Baldock joined the Company in February 2020
following a successful career in investment banking spanning over
three decades. He is a seasoned executive, having held senior
leadership roles at Lazard, SG Warburg (later Swissbank, now UBS)
and HSBC, where he ran the Global Healthcare sector team and
investment banking in the Americas. Michael also co-founded Ondra
Partners, a strategic advisory group, where he began working with
the Company in 2015. He is an experienced corporate finance and
M&A practitioner with broad experience in banking and finance,
coupled with deep knowledge of the healthcare industry. As CFO, he
has led several important initiatives for the Company, including
the planned listing of shares on NASDAQ that was overwhelmingly
supported by investors.
- Ms. Crawford is an experienced leader who joined the
Board in mid-2021 with more than 30 years of experience in the
healthcare industry. She has extensive board and leadership
experience fundamental to overseeing strategy and incentivization.
Sally was previously Chief Operating Officer of Healthsource, where
she led development of the company’s operating systems and
marketing strategies and supported strategic alliances across the
industry. With her robust board experience, she provides value,
independent understanding and oversight of Abcam’s strategy.
DR. MILNER ENDORSED THE COMPANY PLANS THAT
HE NOW CRITICIZES
Dr. Milner was a member of the Company’s Board for 22 years
before he stepped down in 2020. However, his statements
conspicuously overlook the final years of his service on the Board
when Alan was CEO and critical decisions about the Company’s
strategy were discussed and supported by the full Board, including
Dr. Milner. For example, his claim that Abcam has a case of
“UK-Phobia” is flat-out wrong and also deeply hypocritical. He was
not only supportive of, but a driving force behind, the strategy of
moving towards a Nasdaq listing.
Dr. Milner has also made a number of public allegations
regarding provisions of the Deposit Agreement, which sets out the
terms on which Abcam’s American Depositary Receipts are listed on
Nasdaq. When UK companies embark on a dual listing or seek a
primary listing in the US, this is a commonly used structure that
is well understood and accepted by the market. The Deposit
Agreement is on completely customary terms, consistent with those
that apply to almost all other depositary arrangements for UK
companies listed on Nasdaq. The Deposit Agreement was published at
the time of the Company’s Nasdaq listing, and the terms thereof
have been publicly available since that time. Dr. Milner’s request
for preferential treatment by demanding that the Company call an
EGM on his behalf at a time when he did not meet the relevant legal
requirements is entirely consistent with his other actions in
recent weeks, seeking to eschew the basic norms of appropriate
public company governance.
It bears recalling that the shareholder resolution at
the November 2022 EGM on the AIM delisting
and sole listing on Nasdaq was supported by 98% of all voted
shares, including Dr. Milner, who voted every share he owned in
favor of these actions. That decision has been a
positive outcome for all shareholders as the goals of pursuing a
sole listing on Nasdaq are now being achieved – trading volume has
increased and our US sell-side base has been strengthened with
additional highly specialized equity research analysts now covering
the Company.
At the same time, Dr. Milner has taken credit for share price
appreciation during his time on the Board but not as CEO. The
reality is that under Alan’s leadership in the lead up to the
disruption of Covid-19, Abcam’s TSR was 178% which was
significantly above life science tools peers (167%)3. Further, as
the Company has delivered on its plan and gathered momentum in the
last 12 months, TSR (27%) is once again meaningfully outstripping
this peer set (-12%)3.
YOUR SUPPORT IS CRITICAL TO PROTECT THE
FUTURE OF ABCAM
The Board is confident that Abcam is on the right path forward
under the current leadership. The significant progress we have made
since 2019 has created a strong foundation for growth in 2024 and
beyond. As a shareholder in Abcam, you deserve a Board acting in
the best interest of all shareholders, with relevant skills,
experience and knowledge to oversee our management team and drive
future value creation. Your Board and management team remain
focused on accelerating our growth and achieving our strategic
goals. We firmly believe we already have the right directors in
place to do so.
We look forward to continuing to engage constructively with
shareholders to achieve our mutual goal of creating long-term
shareholder value. Dr. Milner’s
self-interested campaign to effectuate management control of Abcam
is value destructive, expensive and disruptive to Abcam and our
shareholders. We urge you to support continued growth
and value creation by voting against Dr. Milner’s resolutions.
YOUR VOTE IS IMPORTANT!
We urge you to vote “AGAINST” all resolutions to be
proposed at the EGM on the WHITE form of proxy.
If you have any questions, or need assistance in voting, please
contact our proxy solicitor Morrow Sodali LLC at (800)
662-5200 (toll-free in N. America) or at + 1 (203) 658-9400 or by
email at ABCM@info.morrowsodali.com.
On behalf of your Board and the management team, thank you for
your continued support.
Sincerely,
Your Abcam Board of Directors
EGM Details
The EGM will be held at the offices of FTI Consulting at 200
Aldersgate, Aldersgate Street, London EC1A 4HD, United Kingdom on
July 12, 2023 at 2:00pm (BST) || 9:00am (EDT). The Company
encourages all shareholders to closely review the Shareholder
Circular, which provides important and detailed instructions about
how to participate and vote.
Shareholder Circular
Details
The Shareholder Circular contains, among other information,
details regarding procedures for voting at the EGM, as well as
comprehensive information regarding Abcam’s engagement with Dr.
Milner and perspectives on Dr. Milner’s proposed resolutions. In
addition to being mailed to you, the Shareholder Circular will be
available at https://corporate.abcam.com/investors/2023-egm
HOW TO VOTE
ADS Holders
Ordinary Shareholders
Instruct the Depositary how to vote the
Ordinary Shares represented by your ADS by following the
instructions on the Depositary Notice and WHITE Voting
Instruction Card and/or such other instructions as may be
provided to you by or on behalf of your broker or intermediary
Submit proxies electronically using
the online voting service at www.sharevote.co.uk or through the
CREST voting service, or in a hard copy using the WHITE Form
of Proxy, by following the instructions set out in the Shareholder
Circular
Such voting instructions must be validly
submitted so as to be received by the Depositary by no later
than 10:00 am (EDT) on July 6, 2023
All proxy appointments must be submitted
so as to be received by the Company’s registrar by no later than
2:00 pm (BST) on July 10, 2023
A copy of the Shareholder Circular
calling the EGM and setting out further information is available
at https://corporate.abcam.com/investors/2023-egm
If you have any questions or need
assistance in voting, please contact Abcam’s proxy solicitor
Morrow Sodali LLC at (800) 662-5200 (toll-free in N.
America) or at + 1 (203) 658-9400 or by email at
ABCM@info.morrowsodali.com
About Abcam plc
As an innovator in reagents and tools, Abcam's purpose is to
serve life science researchers globally to achieve their mission
faster. Providing the research and clinical communities with tools
and scientific support, the Company offers highly validated
antibodies, assays and other research tools to address important
targets in critical biological pathways.
Already a pioneer in data sharing and ecommerce in the life
sciences, Abcam's ambition is to be the most influential company in
life sciences by helping advance global understanding of biology
and causes of disease, which, in turn, will drive new treatments
and improved health.
Abcam's worldwide customer base of approximately 750,000 life
science researchers uses Abcam's antibodies, reagents, biomarkers
and assays. By actively listening to and collaborating with these
researchers, the Company continuously advances its portfolio to
address their needs. A transparent program of customer reviews and
datasheets, combined with industry-leading validation initiatives,
gives researchers increased confidence in their results.
Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Cambridge, UK, the Company
has served customers in more than 130 countries. Abcam's American
Depositary Shares (ADSs) trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market
(Nasdaq: ABCM).
For more information, please visit www.abcam.com or
www.abcamplc.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We
intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe
harbour provisions for forward-looking statements contained in
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section
21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. In some
cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following
words: “may,” “might,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,”
“expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “seek,” “believe,”
“estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” “contemplate,”
“possible” or the negative of these terms or other comparable
terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain
these words. Any express or implied statements contained in this
announcement that are not statements of historical fact, including
statements regarding the implementation of the Company’s business
plan or the financial performance of the Company, are
forward-looking statements, and are neither promises nor
guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
projected, including, without limitation: challenges in
implementing our strategies for revenue growth in light of
competitive challenges; the development of new products or the
enhancement of existing products, and the need to adapt to
significant technological changes or respond to the introduction of
new products by competitors to remain competitive; our customers
discontinuing or spending less on research, development, production
or other scientific endeavors; failing to successfully identify or
integrate acquired businesses or assets into our operations or
fully recognize the anticipated benefits of businesses or assets
that we acquire; the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, including variants,
continues to affect our business, including impacts on our
operations and supply chains; failing to successfully use, access
and maintain information systems and implement new systems to
handle our changing needs; cyber security risks and any failure to
maintain the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our
computer hardware, software and internet applications and related
tools and functions; failing to successfully manage our current and
potential future growth; any significant interruptions in our
operations; our products failing to satisfy applicable quality
criteria, specifications and performance standards; failing to
maintain and enhance our brand and reputation; ability to react to
unfavorable geopolitical or economic changes that affect life
science funding; failing to deliver on transformational growth
projects; our dependence upon management and highly skilled
employees and our ability to attract and retain these highly
skilled employees; as a foreign private issuer, we are exempt from
a number of rules under the US securities laws and Nasdaq corporate
governance rules and are permitted to file less information with
the US Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) than US
companies, which may limit the information available to holders of
our ADSs; and other important factors discussed under the caption
“Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the
year ended 31 December 2022, filed with the SEC on 20 March 2023,
which is available on the SEC website at www.sec.gov, as such
factors may be updated from time to time in the Company’s
subsequent filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements
contained in this announcement speak only as of the date hereof and
accordingly undue reliance should not be placed on such statements.
The Company disclaims any obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements contained in this announcement, whether
as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other
than to the extent required by applicable law.
1 Life science tools peers include Bio-Rad, Bio-Techne,
Illumina, Maravai, Repligen, Sartorius, Tecan and Waters
2 FY2024 Revenue goals calculated at the average exchange rates
for the 12 months ended June 2021
3 Life science tools peers include Bio-Rad, Bio-Techne,
Illumina, Maravai, Repligen, Sartorius, Tecan and Waters
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230616988395/en/
Abcam plc Tommy Thomas, CPA Vice President, Investor
Relations +1 617-577-4205 152 Grove Street, Building 1100 Waltham,
MA 02453
Media enquiries US: Joele Frank +1 212-355-4449
Abcam-JF@joelefrank.com
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