Prostraken IPOs below original target

ProStrakan Group, a UK-based drug company formed after the merger of ProSkelia and Strakan, has priced its IPO on the London Stock Exchange at 100 pence per share, raising around £40m. The company is rumoured to have cut its issue price by 25%. At 100 pence per share, the company is valued at £186m, a considerable drop from its original target valuation of between £270m and £290m. ProStraken shareholders include Warburg Pincus (44.4%); Sanofi-Aventis (16.5%); LMS (10.7%); 3i (10.2%). Other shareholders make up the remaining 18.2%. The shareholders are said to be holding onto their shares for the time being.

Warburg Pincus, LMS Capital and 3i invested in a £30.5m funding round in the company in mid-2001 and followed that on with a £15m fudning round in January 2002. At the time, the two funding rounds represented the largest healthcare private equity funding deal in Europe.