Allergy
Therapeutics
plc
("Allergy Therapeutics", the "Group" or "Company")
Update on
funding
16
October 2024 Allergy Therapeutics
plc (AIM: AGY), the integrated commercial biotechnology company
specialising in allergy vaccines, today provides an update on the
Group's funding and working capital position.
The Company is pleased to announce
that it has entered into a £40m secured senior loan facility (the
"Hayfin Facility")
with Hayfin Healthcare Opportunities LuxCo
S.a.r.l., a fund advised by Hayfin Capital Management LLP
("Hayfin"), a leading
alternative asset management firm.
The Hayfin Facility consists of a
committed £20m five year term loan and an additional uncommitted
£20m incremental facility. As part of these financing arrangements,
the Company has also issued to Hayfin 131,603,616 warrants
to subscribe for new ordinary shares, representing
approximately 2.7% of the issued share capital of
the Company, with a nominal exercise price of 0.1 pence per warrant
and exercisable for a period of ten years from the date of
issue. The Hayfin £20m loan is
subject to an upfront arrangement fee and has a variable interest
rate based on SONIA plus 9.5% per annum with interest payable based
on Company selected interest periods.
Furthermore, following discussions
with major shareholders, SkyGem Acquisition Limited (an affiliate
of ZQ Capital Management Limited) and Southern Fox Investments
Limited (together the "Shareholder Lenders"), the existing loan facility
of £40m (the "Shareholder
Facility"), details of which were announced on 27 December
2023 (the "Shareholder Financing
Announcement"), has been increased to £50m and its term
extended to October 2030. To date, £27.5m has been drawn and is
outstanding under the Shareholder Facility, leaving an undrawn but
uncommitted balance of £22.5m. The Shareholder Facility has been
amended ("the Amended Shareholder Facility") to be unsecured and
rank behind the Hayfin Facility. In addition, interest under the
Shareholder Facility will no longer be paid and instead interest
will be rolled up into capital.
The Company also confirms that it
will be issuing 687,500,000 warrants to the Shareholder Lenders
following announcement of the Company's preliminary results later
this month in accordance with the terms of the Shareholder Facility
and as set out in the Shareholder Financing Announcement. These
warrants entitle the holders to subscribe
for new ordinary shares at a price of 4 pence per share
and are exercisable in whole or in part from 1
July 2024 until October 2030.
With the £20m committed Hayfin
funding and £42.5m of uncommitted facilities, from both Hayfin and
the Shareholder Lenders, the Group has access to substantial
capital to continue to drive the business forward.
The Group continues to deliver
against its plan of improvements to its operational and quality
systems, this has paved the way for increased manufacturing
capacity and a return to sales growth which will be further
detailed in the preliminary results.
Manuel Llobet, Chief Executive
Officer of Allergy Therapeutics, commented: "This long-term funding
transaction, together with the continued progress of our key
R&D programmes and an enhanced supply chain to enable top line
growth, has largely removed our funding overhang and puts Allergy
Therapeutics in the best strategic position for the
future."
Howard Rowe, Head of Healthcare at
Hayfin, commented: "Allergy Therapeutics represents the best of
British pharmaceutical enterprise within the field of allergy
treatments and we are delighted to support its R&D growth and
continued commercial drive. The company aligns perfectly with
Hayfin's ethos of supporting cutting-edge businesses in the
healthcare sector looking for investment capital to deliver
untapped potential."
Related Party Transaction
The Amended Shareholder Facility
including the increase to £50m is deemed to be a related party
transaction pursuant to Rule 13 of the AIM Rules for Companies by
virtue of ZQ Capital (together with its affiliates, SkyGem, ZQ
Capital and Zheqing (Simon) Shen) and Southern Fox being
substantial shareholders of the Company (within the meaning of the
AIM Rules for Companies).
The Directors of the Company who are
independent of the Amended Shareholder Facility, being all of the
Directors save for Zheqing (Simon) Shen and Anthony Parker
consider, having consulted with its nominated adviser, Cavendish
Capital Markets Limited, that the terms of the Amended Shareholder
Facility including the increase to £50m are fair and reasonable
insofar as the Company's shareholders are concerned.
This announcement contains inside
information for the purposes of the UK Market Abuse
Regulations.
Allergy Therapeutics
Manuel Llobet, Chief Executive
Officer
Shaun Furlong, Chief Financial
Officer
+44 (0)1903 845 820
Cavendish Capital Markets Limited (Nominated Adviser and
Broker)
Geoff Nash / Seamus Fricker / Rory
Sale
Nigel Birks- Life Science Specialist
Sales
Tamar Cranford Smith -
Sales
+44 (0)20 7220 0500
ICR
Consilium
Mary-Jane Elliott / David Daley /
Davide Salvi
+44 (0)20 3709 5700
allergytherapeutics@consilium-comms.com
About Allergy Therapeutics
Allergy Therapeutics is an
international commercial biotechnology company, headquartered in
the UK, focussed on the treatment and diagnosis of allergic
disorders, including aluminium free immunotherapy vaccines that
have the potential to cure disease. The Group sells proprietary and
third-party products from its subsidiaries in nine major European
countries and via distribution agreements in an additional ten
countries. Its broad pipeline of products in clinical development
includes vaccines for grass, tree, house dust mite and peanut. For
more information, please see www.allergytherapeutics.com.