Oslo, 20 June 2006
Clavis Pharma ASA announced on Thursday 15 June 2006 that the company intended to carry out an equity offering of 4.44 million new shares or approx. NOK 200 million (USD 32.21 million) at NOK 45.50 (USD 7.33) per share.
The equity offering has been well received by investors and is well over-subscribed. In light of the strong demand the board of directors of Clavis Pharma ASA has decided to increase the size of this equity offering to 4.88 million new shares or approx. NOK 220 million (USD 35.43 million).
The resolution made by the board of directors of Clavis Pharma ASA to carry out the share issue is conditioned upon approval of the listing application by the board of directors at Oslo Børs on the 22 June 2006. The company has scheduled a retail oriented offering the last week in June in order to broaden the shareholder base.
"We are very satisfied that a majority of the large institutional investors approached have subscribed. Combined with the key existing specialist shareholders we now move forward with an unusually strong shareholder base. In today's turbulent market we interpret this interest as a substantial vote of confidence to the company and its products", says Tom Pike, CEO of Clavis Pharma. "We already meet the formally required number of shareholders on the Oslo Stock Exchange SMB list. However, to ensure optimal trading conditions our intention is to increase the number of shareholders in the pending retail oriented offering, as originally planned."
Notification of allotment and payment instruction will be sent to the investors today. Payment must be received by the Company at the latest on 23 June 2006 12.00 CET. Delivery of the Shares will take place immediately following registration of the share capital increase in the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises, and is expected to take place on or about 29 June 2006.
Carnegie ASA has acted as Lead manager, DnB NOR Markets as Co-Lead Manager and Terra Securities as Sales agent in the equity offering.
Contact details:
Tom Pike
Chief Executive Officer,
Tel: +47 9151 9652
tom.pike@clavispharma.com
About Clavis Pharma
Clavis PharmaTM was founded in 2001 by Norsk Hydro and NeoMed. The company develops new and superior pharmaceuticals based on its proprietary Lipid Vector Technology (LVT). LVT involves the synthesis of specific fatty acid analogues of pharmaceutical agents, thereby creating new chemical entities with improved biological properties. LVT has the potential to improve drug performance and dosing characteristics and to reduce the side effects of drug treatment for serious illnesses, such as cancer and infectious diseases. The technology is based on more than a decade of research conducted by Norsk Hydro, a major Norwegian industrial group. The intellectual property currently consists of more than 150 internationally granted patents within 5 patent families.
The company's product portfolio includes three new cancer drugs, of which the first ELACYTTM , is in clinical phase II, the second CP-4126, is entering clinical phase I, and the third is in the pre-clinical phase. Research results so far indicate that ELACYTTM has a promising potential for several cancer indications within solid tumours and leukaemia.
Clavis Pharma's largest investors are: MVM Fund, NeoMed Innovation III, Norsk Hydro, Braganza AS and Techinvest II DA (Høegh).
Additional information on Clavis Pharma can be found at: www.clavispharma.com
Disclaimer
The information contained herein shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the securities referred to herein in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration, exemption from registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
This news release contains forward-looking statements and forecasts based on uncertainty, since they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future and which, by their nature, will have an impact on results of operations and the financial condition of Clavis Pharma. There are a number of factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Theses factors include, among other things, risks associated with technological development, the risk that research & development will not yield new products that achieve commercial success, the impact of competition, the ability to close viable and profitable business deals, the risk of non-approval of patents not yet granted and difficulties of obtaining relevant governmental approvals for new products.
No expressed or implied representations or warranties are given concerning Clavis Pharma or the accuracy or completeness of the information or projections provided herein, and no claims shall be made by the recipient hereof by virtue of this Information Memorandum or the information or projections contained herein. Any representations or warranties made to an investor in Clavis Pharma will be subject to separate sale and purchase agreements to be negotiated between the parties.