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

• Funds to be used to drive transformative strategic growth initiatives

Tokyo, Japan and London, UK, 16 July 2020 – 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.