Brussels, 27 April 2015 – EnterNext, the Euronext subsidiary designed to promote and grow the market for SMEs, today welcomed Biocartis, an innovative molecular diagnostics company, to the regulated market of Euronext Brussels.
Biocartis is an innovative commercial stage molecular diagnostics (MDx) company providing next generation diagnostic solutions aimed at improving clinical practice for the benefit of patients, clinicians, payers and industry. The Company’s proprietary MDx Idylla™ platform is a fully automated, real time PCR system which offers accurate, highly-reliable molecular information from any biological sample in virtually any setting. Idylla™ addresses the growing demand for personalized medicine by allowing fast and effective treatment selection and treatment progress monitoring.
Biocartis (ticker code: BCART) issued 8,695,652 new shares at a reference price of €11.50 per share equivalent to €100 million. Based on the reference price, the total market capitalization of Biocartis at the opening stood at €450.2 million.
Rudi Pauwels, CEO of Biocartis, said : “The closing of this Offering, a week ahead of schedule, at the top of the price range and more than €650 million demand generated, underscores the strong belief in the potential of Biocartis and the appeal of our technology and strategy to institutional and retail investors, both in Belgium and internationally. We are delighted with this enthusiasm, and want to thank all our new investors for their support.”
Vincent Van Dessel, CEO of Euronext Brussels, declared: “We want to extend a warm welcome to Biocartis as it lists on Euronext, in an IPO whose resounding success will help raise the company’s profile in Belgium and abroad. Euronext is delighted at this opportunity to be a partner to Biocartis as it moves ahead with new projects, which will benefit from the financing options offered by the capital markets.”
Alain Baetens, Head of Listings of Euronext Brussels, said: “The IPO of Biocartis on Euronext Brussels is the largest Life Sciences transaction this year on the European markets, and ranks amongst the 10 largest IPOs over the last 10 years on Euronext Brussels. As such, it represents a new milestone for the Life Sciences franchise on Euronext, underpinning our market leadership in Europe, with over 30% of market share. The successful listing of Biocartis demonstrates the importance of the capital markets as a source of financing for innovative companies.”
To celebrate the listing, Rudi Pauwels, CEO and founder of Biocartis, and Hilde Windels, CFO and General Manager of Biocartis, rang the bell in Brussels to open trading on Euronext’s European markets.
KBC Securities acted as sole global coordinator in the offering, KBC Securities, Kempen & Co and Petercam acted as joint bookrunners.