Abzena to raise £25m to expand service offering to customers

Life science firm Abzena, which provides services and technologies for the manufacture of biopharmaceutical products, is planning to raise about £25m in order to expand its service offering to customers.

The AIM-listed company is planning to o raise the fund through an accelerated bookbuild on Wednesday from the issue of 75.75m shares at a price of 33p each.

The new shares will be admitted to trade on 24 April, conditional of the passing of resolutions at the next shareholder general meeting.

The funds raised will be used to drive growth to create critical mass and enable the company to capitalise on significant cross selling opportunities across its services and technology.

Abzena is planning to upgrade and grow its US based biomanufacturing facilities, invest in its existing biology, chemistry and biomanufacturing services in the UK and US, and also invest in the its sales and business development functions.

It believes that these investments will drive revenue growth, margin improvement and operational gearing to move to profitability and increase shareholder value.

Chief executive John Burt said: “Our existing and prospective customers are developing novel but complex biological therapies for a wide range of diseases, from rare genetic childhood disorders to cancer. Our experience and reputation as a biopharma service and technology provider continues to grow and as a result our customers' demand is currently outstripping our capacity.

"This new funding will enable us to build on the group's foundations, maximising the opportunities being presented to us and accelerating progress to sustainable profitability.

Shares in Abzena were down 9.33% to 34p at 0829 BST.