HONG KONG — Prenetics, the Hong Kong-based COVID-19 check supplier that helped English soccer’s Premier League resume matches, is planning an preliminary public providing as early as this 12 months and is on monitor to shut a $100 million pre-IPO funding spherical within the first quarter, in line with individuals conversant in the discussions.
The newest fundraising by the 7-year-old startup backed by Jack Ma’s Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund will worth it between $800 million and $900 million, an individual conversant in the spherical stated. This compares with a valuation above $300 million as of the corporate’s final funding spherical in September.
In an unique interview with Nikkei Asia, Prenetics co-founder and CEO Danny Yeung stated Adrian Cheng, chief government of Hong Kong conglomerate New World Growth, will be a part of the continued spherical.
“We have been in talks with numerous buyers and this [funding] spherical is definitely oversubscribed,” Yeung stated. “So we’re on the lookout for strategic buyers who may also help our enterprise” enter new markets and develop its connections, he stated.
Whereas Yeung didn’t touch upon IPO plans, he stated the corporate is “all the time exploring totally different alternatives.” A lot of the new cash from the funding spherical can be used for analysis and improvement, together with buying corporations with applied sciences that improve Prenetic’s merchandise.
A spokesperson for New World confirmed that Cheng had made an funding in Prenetics.
“He has completed so within the hope that making extra transportable COVID-test kits out there to the market can be efficient in slowing the unfold of the pandemic, and profit hundreds of thousands of individuals throughout the globe in addition to world economies — particularly markets like Hong Kong that depend on incoming enterprise vacationers and vacationers,” the spokesperson stated in an electronic mail to Nikkei.
In November, Prenetics acquired Oxsed, which had developed a speedy COVID-19 testing platform based mostly on analysis from the U.Ok.’s Oxford College. Beneath the deal, Prenetics and its U.Ok. unit have unique world rights to the Oxsed know-how.
Prenetics is in talks to pick out underwriters for the providing, which might additionally enable its 12 enterprise capital and personal fairness buyers to promote part of their stake.
“The enterprise has seen super momentum and consciousness with the COVID-19 testing success,” one of many individuals stated. “It’s a ripe time to faucet the broader investor curiosity.”
Prenetics grew quickly prior to now 12 months after swiftly pivoting to supply COVID-19 testing kits on prime of its core genetic testing companies.
Whether or not its enterprise will lose progress momentum within the post-COVID period is “essentially the most regularly requested query” from buyers, Yeung stated, including that he believes the development is “right here to remain” because the pandemic has raised individuals’s acceptance towards testing on the whole.
With the incoming funds, Prenetics will work on growing 30-minute house check kits for most cancers, HIV and different infectious illnesses. “That is probably a multibillion-dollar market,” Yeung stated.
The corporate will most definitely purpose to debut as early because the third quarter of the 12 months, although it could take a look at choices to checklist sooner, one of many sources stated.
Prenetics will be a part of a bunch of corporations going public in Hong Kong, which was the second-largest new itemizing vacation spot globally final 12 months, behind Nasdaq within the U.S.
Already this 12 months corporations have raised $8.4 billion in Hong Kong, in line with Dealogic. Extra, together with search engine main Baidu, Tencent Music, ByteDance’s quick video app Douyin, and Bilibili, one other Chinese language video app, are stated to be lining up for listings within the metropolis.
Prenetics is a number of choices to go public. Whereas the primary alternative stays a debut on Hong Kong’s important board, the corporate is conscious it could not meet the profitability requirement for an inventory, two of the sources stated. Nonetheless, the corporate can go public with out income if it could obtain the required income and market capitalization.
It’s also contemplating the Development Enterprises Market Board in Hong Kong, the place itemizing guidelines should not so strict, or itemizing via a particular function acquisition firm — a “clean verify” shell company. Already this 12 months, $44 billion has been raised for SPACs, or greater than half the 2020 tally.
Prenetics turned a full-year revenue in 2020 on the again of a coronavirus-testing increase, nonetheless, the corporate is just not going to be worthwhile within the subsequent three years because it continues to spend money on analysis and improvement, Yeung stated. Up to now 12 months, it has added over 100 staff to its 300-plus workforce, which operates out of 10 nations.
Whereas Yeung declined to reveal income figures, one supply stated the corporate has greater than doubled revenues in every of the previous two years.
The corporate has to this point carried out over 1.5 million COVID-19 assessments with a turnaround time as quick as quarter-hour. Its different shoppers embody the Hong Kong Worldwide Airport, the Hong Kong authorities and a number of other airports within the U.Ok., together with Heathrow.
Yeung stated the corporate hopes to develop COVID-testing companies to airports throughout the globe to facilitate rising “journey bubble” preparations.
Prenetics was based in 2014 and centered on genetic testing and digital well being. It has to this point raised $60 million via a number of rounds of funding.
Its buyers embody Indonesia’s Lippo Group-backed Venturra Capital, Hong Kong-based enterprise capital investor Past Ventures, Yuantai Funding Companions and Ping An Ventures, the enterprise capital arm of Ping An Insurance coverage Group. Former England and Manchester United soccer star Rio Ferdinand can also be an investor.
Prenetics, which has carried out over 400,000 DNA assessments, skilled a enterprise acceleration after it ventured into COVID-19 testing. Final 12 months it signed a contract with the EPL to offer as much as 40,000 assessments for gamers and workers, which was instrumental in matches restarting in June after the season was interrupted by the pandemic.
The corporate, which operates three neighborhood testing facilities in Hong Kong, additionally helped check 200,000 employees at 16,000 eating places, supermarkets and moist markets. It was the one Hong Kong-based firm chosen for the government-sponsored COVID-19 testing program.
Extra reporting by Kenji Kawase.