Syncona portfolio company Freeline prices US IPO

(Sharecast News) - Healthcare investment company Syncona announced on Friday that its portfolio company Freeline Therapeutics has priced its initial public offering in the United States.
The FTSE 250 company said the offering would consist of 8,823,529 American depositary shares, at a price of $18 each, raising total gross proceeds of about $158.8m (£120.8m).

All depositary shares sold in the IPO were offered by Freeline, with each representing one ordinary share.

The shares are expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on Friday, under the ticker symbol 'FRLN'.

Following the IPO, Syncona said it would retain a stake of 49% in Freeline, amounting to 18,814,527 ordinary shares, with a total value of £257.7m, having agreed to invest $24.3m in the IPO.

That included an increase in the value of its current shareholding of £57.7m, compared to the 30 June reported value of £181.5m.

"In the five years since Syncona founded Freeline, the company has brought multiple programmes to the clinic, with a cutting-edge manufacturing platform and expert management team," said Syncona Investment Management chief investment officer Chris Hollowood.

"Today's milestone is a significant achievement for the business, and we look forward to continuing to work in close partnership with the management team as it looks to realise its ambition to deliver treatments to patients."

At 0817 BST, shares in Syncona were down 1.17% at 254p.