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Abliva AB (Nasdaq Stockholm: ABLI) (“Abliva” or “the Company”), a biopharmaceutical company in the clinical phase that develops drugs for the treatment of rare and serious primary mitochondrial diseases, announced today that the Company, in accordance with the press release published on March 30, 2021, has carried out a directed issue of 106,666,666 shares to several Swedish and international qualified investors, including Hadean Ventures (the “Directed Issue”). The Board of Directors resolved to issue a total of 106,666,666 shares, whereof 32,601,360 shares are issued based on the authorization granted by the Annual General Meeting held on May 20, 2020, and 74,065,306 shares are issued subject to the approval by an upcoming Extraordinary General Meeting to be held on April 29, 2021. The notice convening the Extraordinary General Meeting will be published through a separate press release on March 31, 2021. The subscription price in the Directed Issue, which was determined through an accelerated bookbuilding procedure, is SEK 0.75 per share. Abliva thus receives a gross payment of SEK 80.0 million through the Directed Issue, whereof SEK 24.5 million is recieved by the Company immediately and SEK 55.5 million is received by the Company provided that the Extraordinary General Meeting approves the Board of Directors’ issue resolution.
Abliva has completed a Directed Issue of 106,666,666 shares to several Swedish and international qualified investors, including Hadean Ventures. The Board of Directors resolved to issue a total of 106,666,666 shares, whereof 32,601,360 shares are issued based on the authorization granted by the Annual General Meeting held on May 20, 2020 (“Tranche 1”), and 74,065,306 shares are issued subject to the approval by an upcoming Extraordinary General Meeting to be held on April 29, 2021 (“Tranche 2”). The notice convening the Extraordinary General Meeting will be published through a separate press release on March 31, 2021. Existing shareholders, that includes Hadean Ventures, together representing 14.2 percent of the votes in the Company, have indicated their intention to vote in favour of Tranche 2 at the upcoming Extraordinary General Meeting. The subscription price in the Directed Issue is SEK 0.75 per share corresponding to a discount of 1.3 percent to the closing price for Abliva’s share on Nasdaq Stockholm on March 30, 2021. It is the Board of Directors’ assessment that the subscription price is in accordance with market conditions as it was determined through an accelerated bookbuilding procedure. Abliva thus receives gross proceeds of SEK 80.0 million through the Directed Issue, whereof SEK 24.5 million, i.e. Tranche 1, is recieved by the Company immediately and SEK 55.5 million, i.e. Tranche 2, is received by the Company provided that the Extraordinary General Meeting approves the Board of Directors’ issue resolution.
The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Directed Issue for further advancement of the Company’s clinical assets, focusing on KL1333. The reasons for the deviation from the shareholders’ preferential rights is to be able to carry out a capital raise in a timely and cost-effective manner as well as to broaden the Company’s ownership.
“This financing round is an important step on our journey to make Abliva a well-known and recognized world leader in mitochondrial medicine. I would like to thank the investors for this financing as it will allow us to readout the ongoing studies with our lead candidate KL1333 and to finalize the preparations for the upcoming global registrational Phase 2/3 study. In order to secure the additional financing to enable the KL1333 study, we will increase our interactions with European and American specialist and institutional investors. We look forward to expanding our outreach and communication of this strong story both in Europe and in the U.S. It is an exciting time for Abliva and I look forward to the months ahead,” says Abliva’s CEO, Ellen Donnelly.
The Directed Issue will result in a dilution of approximately 26.5 percent of the number of shares and votes in Abliva, whereof 9.9 percent through Tranche 1 and 18.4 percent through Tranche 2 provided that the Extraordinary General Meeting approves the Board of Directors’ issue resolution. Through Tranche 1, the number of outstanding shares increases with 32,601,360 shares, from 296,340,132 shares to 328,941,492 shares and the Company’s share capital increases with SEK 1,630,068.00 from SEK 14,817,006.60 to SEK 16,447,074.60. Through Tranche 2, provided that the Extraordinary General Meeting approves the Board of Directors’ issue resolution, the number of outstanding shares increases with 74,065,306 shares to 403,006,798 shares and the Company’s share capital increases with SEK 3,703,265.30 to SEK 20,150,339.90.
Advisors
Erik Penser Bank AB is financial advisor and Cirio Advokatbyrå AB is legal advisor to Abliva in connection with the Directed Issue.