Mercia Technologies PLC Further investment into Oxford Genetics
06 June 2017 - 4:01PM
RNS Non-Regulatory
TIDMMERC
Mercia Technologies PLC
06 June 2017
RNS Reach 6 June 2017
Mercia Technologies PLC
("Mercia", "the Company" or "the Group")
Further investment into Oxford Genetics
Mercia (AIM: MERC), the national investment group focused on the
creation, funding and scaling of innovative technology businesses
with high growth potential from the UK regions, is pleased to
announce that it has completed a GBP500,000 investment into Oxford
Genetics, a synthetic biology company with significant expertise in
DNA design. This investment follows the GBP1.0million of additional
capital which was provided by Mercia in October 2016 in order to
expand the company's management team, board, patent portfolio and
commercialisation strategy.
Oxford Genetics joined Mercia's 'Emerging Stars' portfolio of
direct investments in December 2015 having first received
investment from the Group's managed funds in 2013, as one of the
founding investors. The company has now received a total of
GBP5.8million in grants and investment. Mercia currently has a
direct equity stake of 47.9%. This latest investment will be used
to expand Oxford Genetics' reach into the US market and further
drive sales growth alongside its recent access to CRISPR
technology, whilst continuing to support its promising Research and
Development at its state-of-the art facilities on the Oxford
Science Park.
The company continues to make significant progress including
100% year on year growth in turnover and the successful award of
GBP1.9million of non-dilutive grants in March 2017. This has been
driven by impressive development of the patent portfolio, which now
consists of one granted patent SnapFast(TM) and a further five
submitted applications, with a plan to file another four in 2017.
Furthermore, the board has been expanded with the appointment of Dr
David Hames as Chairman, Dr Matt Baker as Non-executive Director
and Dr Paul Brookes as Commercial Director.
Oxford Genetics operates in the high growth sector of synthetic
biology and protein design alongside the bioproduction of complex
biologics. The Synthetic Biology Market Report, published by Allied
Market Research, forecasts that the global market is expected to
reach $38.7 billion by 2020, registering a CAGR of 44.2% during the
period 2014 - 2020.
Dr Ryan Cawood, CEO of Oxford Genetics said: "Mercia's continued
support has been instrumental in helping us to achieve the
significant progress to date. Our turnover has doubled in the last
year and with this additional capital, we will be able to further
expand the team, giving us the ability to build the most innovative
technologies in the DNA and protein design market."
Dr Mark Payton, CEO of Mercia Technologies PLC said: "Over the
last 12 months, Oxford Genetics has clearly demonstrated its
ability to create market leading technologies and has been
bolstered by an industry leading research and development team.
Life Sciences and Biosciences is a key sector for Mercia which we
believe will deliver significant shareholder value over the medium
term."
For further information, please contact:
Mercia Technologies PLC
Mark Payton, Chief Executive Officer
Martin Glanfield, Chief Financial Officer
www.merciatech.co.uk +44 (0)330 223 1430
Cenkos Securities plc
Ivonne Cantu / Mark Connelly (NOMAD) +44 (0)20 7397 8900
Buchanan
Bobby Morse, Victoria Hayns, Stephanie Watson
www.buchanan.uk.com +44 (0)20 7466 5000
About Oxford Genetics
Founded in 2011 and now a leading synthetic biology company,
Oxford Genetics mission is the creation of transformative systems
and services to aid in the discovery and development of biologics,
cell and gene therapies. A unifying theme across the portfolio is
expertise in designing DNA using Oxford Genetics patented
technologies, to optimise the expression of proteins, improving
viral delivery systems and cell line engineering.
About Mercia Technologies PLC
Mercia is a national investment group focused on the creation,
funding and scaling of innovative businesses with high growth
potential from the UK regions. Mercia benefits from 18 university
partnerships and six offices across the Midlands, the North of
England and Scotland providing it with access to high quality,
regional deal flow. Mercia Technologies PLC is quoted on AIM with
the epic "MERC".
Mercia's 'Complete Capital Solution' initially nurtures
businesses via its third party funds (now with more than
GBP336.5million under management following recent mandate wins) and
then over time Mercia can provide further funding to its 'Emerging
Stars' by deploying direct investment follow-on capital from its
own balance sheet.
Since its IPO in December 2014, the Company has invested over
GBP30.0million directly across its portfolio of 'Emerging
Stars'.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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