Sosei Heptares Successfully Raises US$200 million in International Offering of New Shares and Convertible Bonds

TOKYO and LONDON, July 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sosei Group Corporation ("the Company") (TSE: 4565) today announces the successful completion of an International Offering of new shares and euro-yen denominated convertible bonds due 2025 that has raised a total of approximately $200 million. Further details of the International Offering can be found in the Company announcements made on 30 June 2020.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the International Offering as follows:

• The majority of funds will be used to pursue strategic growth initiatives including:

- a potentially transformative acquisition to secure long-term revenue growth;
- investments in novel technologies that complement and future-proof its drug discovery platform;
- expansion of its drug candidate discovery and early development into new target classes; and
- in-licensing late-stage clinical assets to develop for the Japanese market.

• Any balance of funds will be used to support organic growth initiatives, such as investments in current research activities and general corporate purposes.

Shinichi Tamura, President and CEO of Sosei Heptares, commented: "I am pleased that we have successfully completed this International Offering led by our finance team and I would like to thank all of the investors who subscribed for their support. The US$200 million that we have raised will allow us to pursue our growth strategy, which includes potential transformative acquisitions, more aggressively. We have an excellent track record of making transformational acquisitions: the purchases of both Heptares Therapeutics and Arakis have played a key role in shaping our current business and delivering significant value to our shareholders. With this enhanced level of financial resources, I am looking to the future with great confidence and look forward to updating you as we execute our growth strategy."

Chris Cargill, EVP and CFO of Sosei Heptares, added: "This International Offering to new and existing shareholders was highly successful, given the uncertain global economic outlook, and has secured the long-term growth capital we require to execute our corporate ambition. This significantly improved level of financial flexibility enhances our strategic options. We can now look at exciting ways to accelerate Sosei Heptares' long-term revenue growth, including a potentially transformative acquisition, as well as investments that enhance our own world-leading capabilities to generate novel drug candidates targeting serious diseases."  

BofA Securities acted as sole bookrunner and lead manager for the international offering, and Mizuho International and Nomura acted as co-managers. Nishimura & Asahi acted as legal counsel to Sosei Heptares.

About Sosei Heptares

We are an international biopharmaceutical group focused on the discovery and early development of new medicines originating from our proprietary GPCR-targeted StaR® technology and structure-based drug design platform capabilities. We are advancing a broad and deep pipeline of novel medicines across multiple therapeutic areas, including CNS, immuno-oncology, gastroenterology, inflammation and other rare/specialty indications.

We have established partnerships with some of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, including AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Genentech (Roche), Novartis, Pfizer and Takeda, and additionally with multiple emerging biotechnology companies. Sosei Heptares is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan with R&D facilities in Cambridge, UK.

"Sosei Heptares" is the corporate brand and trademark of Sosei Group Corporation, which is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (ticker: 4565). Sosei, Heptares, the logo and StaR® are trademarks of Sosei Group companies.

For more information, please visit https://www.soseiheptares.com/

LinkedIn: @soseiheptaresco | Twitter: @soseiheptaresco | YouTube: @soseiheptaresco

Forward-looking statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements about the discovery, development and commercialization of products. Various risks may cause Sosei Group Corporation's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including: adverse results in clinical development programs; failure to obtain patent protection for inventions; commercial limitations imposed by patents owned or controlled by third parties; dependence upon strategic alliance partners to develop and commercialize products and services; difficulties or delays in obtaining regulatory approvals to market products and services resulting from development efforts; the requirement for substantial funding to conduct research and development and to expand commercialization activities; and product initiatives by competitors. As a result of these factors, prospective investors are cautioned not to rely on any forward-looking statements. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Enquiries:

Sosei Heptares 
Shinichiro Nishishita – VP Investor Relations
+81 (0)3 5210 3399 | [email protected]

Candelle Chong – VP Corporate Strategy and Communications
+44 (0)1223 949 392 | [email protected]

Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Yas Fukuda – Japanese Media
+81 (0)3 4360 9234 | [email protected]

Mark Swallow, David Dible – International Media
+44 (0)20 7638 9571 | [email protected]

SOURCE Sosei Heptares

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