Arix, Syncona and WPCT bank gains after Autolus “pops” on Nasdaq IPO
Arix Bioscience (ARIX), Syncona (SYNC) and Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) should be able to record some sizeable NAV gains this month, as previously highlighted in earlier Quoteddata.com articles, on the back of a revaluation to market value of their respective holdings in the common portfolio company, Autolus Therapeutics. This follows the UK-based CAR-T specialist’s successful listing on Nasdaq on Friday, which saw its shares list at a significant premium to carrying value and “pop” on its first day of trading.
Autolus shares (AUTL) were priced at $17/share in the IPO, the top end of the indicated range, and closed at $25/share on the first day of trading. Autolus raised gross proceeds of c$150m in the offering and may obtain up to a further c$20m from the sale of the over-allotment.
The revaluation of Autolus has the greatest impact on Syncona, which was its founder-investor and held a 40.6% stake prior to the IPO. Syncona invested $24m in the IPO in order to maintain a large stake, which stands at just under 34% post IPO. The fund will have seen an uplift in value of £152m, at the current share price, equivalent to 14% of its NAV. Arix, the smallest of the three UK VC firms, invested $7m in the IPO. WPCT has not disclosed whether it added to its investment in the fundraising (although is presumed not to have done so).
Interestingly, the share price gains of all three companies since the market close last Thursday all under-estimate the NAV gain (in pence) by around half, according to calculations by Marten & Co (see tables below).
| No of shares held pre-IPO (m) | Pre-IPO s/holding (%) | S/holding value at IPO price (£m) | Invested in IPO ($m) | Post IPO s’holding (m) | Post-IPO holding (%) | Post-IPO value at $25/share (£m) | ||||
| Syncona | 12.2 | 40.6 | 155.7 | 24.0 | 13.6 | 33.8% | 255.5 | |||
| WPCT | 7.7 | 25.6 | 98.2 | N/A | 7.7 | 19.8% | 144.4 | |||
| Arix Bioscience | 2.7 | 9.1 | 35.0 | 7.2 | 3.2 | 8.2% | 59.4 | |||
| Source: Autolus Prospectus, filed with SEC. Some figures calculated/estimated by Marten & Co. | ||||||||||
| Fund NAV (£), end May | Pre-ipo value of AUTL s/holding | Uplift in value (£) | Uplift in value (% of NAV) | Uplift in value (p/share) | Actual change in share price | |
| Syncona | 1065.8 | 85.1 | 152.3 | 14.29% | 23.1 | 12p |
| WPCT | 693.8 | 27.7 | 70.5 | 10.16% | 8.5 | 4p |
| Arix Bioscience | 451.9 | 20.1 | 33.9 | 7.50% | 16.7 | 3.6p |
Arix, Syncona and WPCT bank gains after Autolus “pops” on Nasdaq IPO