Denmark's Zealand Pharma Set For Nov Partial Listing

Owners of privately held Zealand Pharma plan a partial listing of the Danish biotech firm next month to generate up to EUR125 million for use in innovative drug discovery, a person familiar with the mater said Friday.

The aim is to have around one-third of the shares in public hands after the listing. Pricing for the IPO is likely to be around middle of November and before Thanksgiving, to ensure adequate U.S. interest, the source said.

"None of the insiders are selling shares--it's all going to be a primary raising for the company which is keen to roll out its portfolio," the person said. "This is a capital raising to continue funding R&D in their portfolio."

Bookrunners for the deal are Den Danske Bank of Denmark and biotech specialists Jefferies. Sweden's SEB Enskilda and French equity boutique Bryan Garnier are co-managers, the person said.

Owners of the Danish biotech are using its promising experimental drug for diabetes, called lixisenatide, to lure potential investors.

The candidate medicine belongs to the GLP-1 class of drugs that stimulate insulin release when glucose levels become too high. It is being co-developed with French drug giant Sanofi-Aventis SA (SNY).

If approved for market, lixisenatide, which is in late stage clinical development, would compete with Novo Nordisk A/S's (NOVO-B.KO) Victoza and Amylin (AMLN) and Eli Lilly & Co.'s (LLY) Byetta.

Spokespeople for Zealand Pharma couldn't be immediately contacted by phone or email.

According to Zealand's website, its shareholders with more than 5% of the biotech's share capital and voting rights are Denmark-based Sunstone BI Funds and Sunstone Capital, France-based CDC Innovation, Denmark-based LD Pension, France-based Allianz Innovation, Denmark's A/S Dansk Erhvervsinvestering, and LSP of the Netherlands.

-By Sten Stovall, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 207 842 9292; sten.stovall@dowjones.com

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