Merus

Lead Manager

Van Lanschot Kempen acted as Lead Manager in the USD 173 million Capital Increase by Merus

Transaction highlights

Capital Increase of 7,840,909 common shares at a price of USD 22.00, generating gross proceeds of USD 173 million for Merus at a discount of 3.9% to the last closing price
The transaction was launched on the back of Q2 2023 financial results that included a business update that mentioned petosemab was granted FDA Fast Track Designation for head and neck cancer and the plan to start a Phase III trial in mid-2024. Furthermore, the company announced zenocutuzumab was granted two FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designations in both NRG1+ non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and NRG1+ pancreatic cancer
Merus intends to use the proceeds to advance the clinical development of its product candidates, its preclinical research and development efforts, and general corporate purposes
Van Lanschot Kempen acted as the only European Bank in a US banking syndicate and is proud to have assisted Merus as a repeat client in raising capital for the fourth time since 2019

Company description

Merus is a clinical-stage oncology biotech company focused on developing innovative full-length bispecific and trispecific antibody therapeutics, referred to as Multiclonics®. The company produces these Multiclonics® therapeutics from its proprietary technology platform to generate a diverse array of antibody binding domains.

Background Van Lanschot Kempen Life Sciences & Healthcare

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

Manager in the USD 1.3 billion Capital Increase by argenx
Joint Bookrunner in the SEK 500m Capital Increase by Vicore Pharma
Financial Adviser to NewAmsterdam Pharma in the USD 182 million secondary sell-down by existing investors
Joint Global Coordinator & Joint Bookrunner in the EUR 25 million Capital Increase by Vivoryon Therapeutics
Joint Global Coordinator & Joint Bookrunner in the EUR 16 million Capital Increase by Sequana Medical
Lead Manager in the DKK 1.5 billion Capital Increase by Zealand Pharma
Capital Markets Advisor & Placement Agent in the merger between European Biotech Acquisition Corp. and Oculis SA and the connected USD 91 million PIPE
Lead Manager in the USD 250 million US Public Offering by CureVac
Sole Financial Adviser to GenSight Biologics in securing a €12.0 million credit facility from Heights Capital Management
Joint Global Coordinator and Joint Bookrunner in the SEK 416 million Capital Increase by Hansa Biopharma
Sole Financial Adviser in SynAct Pharma’s acquisition of TXP Pharma and Joint Global Coordinator & Joint Bookrunner in SynAct Pharma’s SEK 80 million PIPE
Joint Bookrunner in the SEK 200 million Accelerated Bookbuild Offering by Vicore Pharma
Joint Global Bookrunner in the SEK 148 million Fully Guaranteed Rights Issue by Biovica
Sole Financial Adviser to GenSight Biologics in securing a €35.0 million credit facility from the European Investment Bank
Joint Global Coordinator & Joint Bookrunner in the SEK 170 million Accelerated Bookbuild offering of Xbrane Biopharma
Co-Lead Manager in the DKK 786 million Capital Increase by Zealand Pharma
Financial Advisor in the sale of Sanquin Reagents by Sanquin Health Solutions to Gilde Healthcare
Financial Advisor in the up to SEK 250 million (convertible) debt financing by Mendus
Joint Global Coordinator in the SEK 299 million Directed Share Issue by BioInvent
Sole Global Coordinator in the SEK 200 million financing consisting of a SEK 150m PIPE and a SEK 50 million Fully Guaranteed Rights Issue by Abliva
Joint Global Coordinator & Joint Bookrunner in the SEK 150 million Fully Guaranteed Rights Issue by SynAct Pharma