Selvita to acquire Fidelta from Galapagos
-Strengthening Selvita’s position as one of
the largest preclinical contract research organizations in Europe
-
- Acquisition substantially expands Selvita’s integrated
drug discovery services offering
- Transaction will almost double Selvita’s
revenues
- Enterprise value of € 31.2M to
be paid in cash
- Fidelta to continue performing drug discovery services
for Galapagos for the next five years
Mechelen, Belgium and Krakow, Poland –
23 November 2020, 22.15 CET – Galapagos NV [Euronext & NASDAQ:
GLPG] and Selvita S.A. [WSE: SLV] – announced today that they have
signed an agreement under which Selvita will acquire 100% of the
outstanding shares in Fidelta d.o.o. for an enterprise value
of € 31.2M plus the customary
adjustments for net cash and working capital.
Fidelta is a contract research organization
within the Galapagos Group of companies, with core scientific
competences in inflammation, fibrosis, and anti-infectives. It
currently employs 181 employees, including over 150 highly
experienced scientists, providing integrated drug discovery
services in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, with a proven
track record of accomplished laboratory projects over many years.
Fidelta is located in state-of-the art R&D facilities in
Zagreb, Croatia which offer almost 6,000 m2 of research space. The
transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is
expected to close on the 4th of January 2021.
Galapagos is a fully integrated
biopharmaceutical company with a deep pipeline of novel mechanism
of action candidates and commercial operations in Europe; as such,
the CRO activities offered by Fidelta no longer fit with its
strategy.
Upon completion of the acquisition, Fidelta will
be fully consolidated under the Selvita Group, and will continue to
operate under the Fidelta name.
More comprehensive offering and opening
of new growth opportunities
The scope of services provided by Fidelta is
complementary to Selvita’s offerings and will enable Selvita to
build a competitive advantage in business areas such as DMPK, in
vivo pharmacology, and toxicology. Selvita will also increase its
scale of operations within medicinal chemistry and in vitro
pharmacology, resulting in significant strengthening of its market
position.
Fidelta's therapeutic areas of expertise align
with current market trends, as infectious diseases, inflammation,
and fibrosis are all areas of core expertise for Fidelta and are
becoming increasingly major areas of interest for pharma companies
due to the significant and unmet medical needs.
“We are thrilled to announce our acquisition of
Fidelta. This is a perfect fit for us: an extensively experienced
organization, with a full range of in-house drug discovery
capabilities and an established track record of clinical candidate
delivery,” says Boguslaw Sieczkowski, Chief Executive Officer at
Selvita. “With this acquisition, we are not only executing our
strategy announced this year, but we’re actually taking a leap in
both the scope of our services portfolio and the scale of business.
It is a transformative moment in the history of Selvita.”
“The scientific knowledge, the business acumen,
and the focus and commitment of the team at Fidelta are second to
none. I would like to thank the Fidelta team for the
excellent collaboration over the years. I’m sure they will
thrive under the Selvita umbrella. We will continue part of our
discovery work with Fidelta, so we will benefit from that,” says
Onno van de Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos.
“We are very happy to take this big and logical
step in the further development of Fidelta, and together with
Selvita, to strengthen our presence on the market. Bringing
together these two companies will allow us to keep a high level of
quality and offer an even more integrated approach in
services that we provide to our clients,” says Adrijana Vinter,
Managing Director of Fidelta.
Transaction structure and its value
potential
Over the years, Fidelta has transformed from an
internal R&D department into a profitable external CRO
delivering strong growth. Fidelta reported revenues of € 17.4M and
an EBITDA of € 2.6M in 2019. Full year 2020 is on track to become a
record year for Fidelta; in the first 9 months Fidelta reported
revenues of € 17.2M, and an operating profit of € 4.4M.
Fidelta possesses a diverse revenue base,
including cooperation with a significant number of big pharma and
biotech customers. The acquisition will add to Selvita’s revenues
growth and make a significant contribution to its EBITDA.
About Selvita Selvita is a
preclinical Contract Research Organization providing
multidisciplinary support in resolving the unique challenges of
research within area of drug discovery, regulatory studies, as well
as research and development. The Company was established in 2007
and currently employs over 550 professionals, of which over 1/3
hold a PhD title. Selvita is headquartered in Krakow, Poland, with
a second research site in Poznan, Poland and international offices
located in Cambridge, MA and South San Francisco, in the U.S., as
well as in Cambridge, UK. Selvita is a major shareholder in Ardigen
– bioinformatics company harnessing advanced Artificial
Intelligence methods for novel precision medicine. Selvita has a
proven track record of successfully completed projects and
customers in 40 countries. The majority of Company revenues come
from pharma, biotech, chemical and agrochemical companies from the
U.S. and Europe. Selvita is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange
(WSE:SLV). More information at www.selvita.com.
About GalapagosGalapagos
(Euronext & NASDAQ: GLPG) discovers and develops small molecule
medicines with novel modes of action, several of which show
promising patient results and are currently in late-stage
development in multiple diseases. The company’s pipeline comprises
early discovery through to Phase 3 programs in inflammation,
fibrosis, and other indications. Galapagos’ ambition is to become a
leading global biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery,
development and commercialization of innovative medicines. More
information at www.glpg.com.
Contacts Selvita
Media & Investors:Natalia
Baranowska +48 784 069 418 natalia.baranowska@selvita.com
Contacts Galapagos
Investors:Elizabeth GoodwinVP Investor
Relations +1 781 460 1784
Sofie Van GijselSenior Director Investor Relations+32 485 19 14
15ir@glpg.com
Media:Carmen VroonenGlobal Head of
Communications & Public Affairs+32 473 824 874
Anna GibbinsSenior Director Therapeutic Areas Communications+44
7717 801900communications@glpg.com
Forward-looking statements SelvitaInformation
set forth in this press release contains forward-looking
statements, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The
forward-looking statements contained herein represent the judgement
of Selvita as of the date of this press release. Such
forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees but
are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which
are beyond our control, and which could cause actual results to
differ materially from those contemplated in these forward-looking
statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include,
without limitation, the risk that parties would be unable to
complete the transaction within the currently foreseen timelines or
at all, the risk that Selvita’s expectations regarding
Fidelta’s results for the full year 2020 and regarding the
continued growth of Fidelta may be incorrect, the risk that
Selvita’s expectations regarding Fidelta’s future service
performance for Selvita would be incorrect.
We expressly disclaim any obligation or
undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any
such statements to reflect any change in our expectations or any
change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such
statement is based.
Forward-looking statements Galapagos
This press release includes forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, as amended, that are subject to risks,
uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those referred to in the forward-looking
statements and, therefore, the reader should not place undue
reliance on them. These risks, uncertainties and other factors
include, without limitation, the risk that parties would be unable
to complete the transaction within the currently foreseen timelines
or at all, the risk that Galapagos’ expectations regarding
Fidelta’s results for the full year 2020 and regarding the
continued growth of Fidelta may be incorrect, the risk that
Galapagos’ expectations regarding Fidelta’s future service
performance for Galapagos would be incorrect, as well as,
those risks and uncertainties identified in our Annual Report
on Form 20-F for the year ended 31 December 2019 and our subsequent
filings with the SEC. All statements other than statements of
historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking
statements. The forward-looking statements contained herein are
based on management’s current expectations and beliefs and speak
only as of the date hereof, and Galapagos makes no commitment to
update or publicly release any revisions to forward-looking
statements in order to reflect new information or subsequent
events, circumstances or changes in expectations.
- Selvita to acquire Fidelta from Galapagos
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