Stem cell company floats on AIM

ReNeuron, a Merlin Biosciences backed biotech company, has floated on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market with a market capitalisation of £23.4m

ReNeuron is a British stem-cell specialist and raised £9.5m on the float, which included a placing in the UK and a private placement in the US. In addition to the 38 million shares that have been floated, 19 million warrants have been issued, which are exercisable by February 12 next year at 30p, a 20% premium to the placing price. If successful, these warrants will raise a further £5.7m. The money raised will be used to pay for the first clinical trials of ReN001, a stroke program.

ReNeuron was founded in 1997 with funding from Merlin, which then floated the company in 2000. On this first float, shares were valued at 195 pence, and the business had a market valuation of £66m. Merlin took it back in 2003 at a price of £3.6m.