Wellcome Trust charity cuts stake in Syncona – Wellcome Trust Limited, a UK biomedical charity, has confirmed that it has sold approximately 57 million ordinary shares in Syncona Limited (SYNC). This represents approximately 8.7% of Syncona’s issued ordinary share capital. The shares were sold at 245p per share, equating to gross proceeds of approximately £141m for Wellcome Trust. Syncona will not receive any proceeds from the transaction.
Following completion of the placing, Wellcome Trust will own approximately 186 million shares in Syncona, equivalent to approximately 28.1%. Wellcome Trust has undertaken not to sell further shares for a period of 180 days following completion of the share placing.
About Syncona
“Syncona is a leading FTSE250 healthcare company focused on founding, building and funding global leaders in life science. Our vision is to deliver transformational treatments to patients in truly innovative areas of healthcare while generating superior returns for shareholders. We seek to partner with the best, brightest and most ambitious minds in science to build globally competitive businesses. We take a long-term view, underpinned by a deep pool of capital, and are established leaders in gene and cell therapy. We focus on delivering dramatic efficacy for patients in areas of high unmet need.”
About Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust is a UK-based biomedical research charity that was founded in 1936 and today supports researchers and takes on major health challenges around the world. The Trust’s endowment is worth £25.9 billion and it co-founded Syncona in 2012, which subsequently listed publicly in 2016.
[QD comment: This transaction struck us as slightly odd given Wellcome and Syncona share a commitment to healthcare research and the stake in Syncona was only a small part of Wellcome’s assets. Could Wellcome be put off by the size of Syncona’s cash pile, which will grow significantly following the bid for Nighstar Therapeutics. Investors will be watching closely to see which firms Syncona decides to back next.]
SYNC : Wellcome Trust charity cuts stake in Syncona