Zealand Pharma

• Directed issue and private placement of 4,975,000 new ordinary shares at a price of DKK 158 per new ordinary share, raising gross proceeds of approx. DKK 786 million 
• Zealand Pharma’s capital increase was upsized during bookbuilding to 4,975,000 new ordinary shares from approx. 4,500,000 new ordinary shares at launch, representing a total increase of the company’s share capital by 10.7%
• Shares were offered at a price of DKK 158 per new ordinary share, representing a discount of 5.4% vis-à-vis the closing price prior to the transaction announcement on 4 October 2022
• The transaction was executed on the back of positive topline results from the EASE 1 Phase III clinical trial of its candidate glepaglutide, which is a long-acting GLP-2 analog in development for the treatment of Short Bowel Syndrome
• Net proceeds are intended to be primarily used to help fund the continued development of Zealand Pharma's proprietary pipeline of investigational peptide-based therapeutics, to support pre-commercial activities and are expected to provide a cash runway until Q2 2024
• This transaction marks Kempen & Co’s fourth equity capital markets transaction for a Nordic company in the last six months, underpinning the ability of Kempen & Co to continue supporting companies in the Nordics in challenging markets

Zealand Pharma (Nasdaq: ZEAL) is a biotechnology company focused on discovering, developing, and commercialising peptide-based medicines. More than ten drug candidates invented by Zealand Pharma have advanced into clinical development, of which two have reached the market, and three candidates are in late-stage development.

In March 2022, Zealand Pharma announced a new strategy to pursue strategic partners for the commercialisation and co-development of late-stage clinical assets and prioritize resources on R&D. 

The company has development partnerships with a number of blue-chip pharma companies as well as commercial partnerships for its marketed products.
Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, Zealand Pharma has a team in the U.S.

In the last twelve months, Kempen & Co has successfully completed a large number of equity capital markets transactions in its Life Sciences & Healthcare franchise. Recent transactions include:

• Joint Global Coordinator in SEK 299m directed share issue by BioInvent
• Sole Global Coordinator in the SEK 200m financing consisting of a SEK 150m PIPE and a SEK 50m Fully Guaranteed Rights Issue by Abliva
• Joint Global Coordinator & Joint Bookrunner in the SEK 150 million Fully Guaranteed Rights Issue by SynAct Pharma
• Co-Manager in the USD 700 million Capital Increase by argenx
• Sole Block Placing Agent in the placement of 1.4m Molecular Partners shares
• Joint Bookrunner in the USD 127 million Nasdaq IPO of Forbion European Acquisition Corp
• Co-Lead Manager in the USD 115 million Nasdaq Initial Public Offering by IO Biotech
• Lead manager in the USD 127 million Global Offering of Merus
• Joint Global Coordinator and Joint Bookrunner in the €31.5 million Euronext IPO by MaaT Pharma