LumiraDx Ltd., a diagnostic company that produces Covid-19 tests, is made public through a reverse merger with a blank verification company.
The UK – based firm will be combined with AIX. Health care Acquisition Corp. in an agreement that values LumiraDx’s own resources at $ 5 billion, the companies said in a statement.
Although there is no stake associated with the transaction, LumiraDx has secured a $ 300 million loan BioPharma Credit Plc and an additional $ 100 million asset-based revolving credit facility Capital One Financial Corp., according to the statement.
According to data collected by Bloomberg, LumiraDx’s deal is the largest last year by a healthcare company with a special purpose acquisition company or SPAC, with $ 5 billion.
Test Covid-19
LumiraDx machines, approximately the size of a brick, are designed to process about 30 different tests, including Covid-19, in just 12 minutes. The company is also developing a smaller device that will be available for home use.
The company has research and development offices and support in Waltham, Massachusetts and San Diego. In January, he applied for a first public offering from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
LumiraDx estimates it will have revenues of between $ 600 and $ 1 billion this year, compared to $ 139 million in 2020, according to the statement. Among its customers are CVS Health Corp., the UK National Health Service and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The global coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the deployment of LumiraDx machines in a way that exceeded the company’s expectations, according to CEO Ron Zwanziger.
“There will be a significant long-term benefit to having many more units in the field long before it would have happened without the pandemic,” he said in an interview.
Wider approach
While LumiraDx expects to see significant growth in demand for its Covid-19 testing as the pandemic persists, supply is secondary to the company’s broader focus on providing point-of-care testing to patients. , said Zwanziger.
“We’re basically about transforming community care,” he said.
Although the SPAC frenzy has cooled in recent weeks, CA Health care Acquisition President Larry Neiterman said the deal should still be well received.
“The market has softened a bit, but I think the market will still be excited about that,” Neiterman, Deloitte’s former chief operating officer, said in an interview. “We believe that everything is a reasonable assessment and we feel worth our appreciation “.
Evercore Inc. i Raymond James Financial Inc. was a financial advisor to LumiraDx, while BTIG advised CA. Health care Acquisition.
AIX. Health care The acquisition raised $ 115 million on its IPO. Its shares closed at $ 9.70 every Tuesday.
(Updates compared to other offers in the fourth paragraph)