Malin-backed company announces initial IPO price

Poseida Therapeutics is expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq on Friday

Poseida Therapeutics, a company in which Dublin-listed life-sciences investment group Malin has a significant stake, has announced the pricing of its initial public offering on the Nasdaq where it is expected to begin trading on Friday.

Poseida is a human therapeutics company using genome engineering technologies to develop new, life-saving treatments, including gene therapies for rare liver diseases and immuno-oncology therapeutics for several types of cancer.

Last month, Poseida applied to list its common stock on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol PSTX. The move came just over a year after it surprised market watchers when it decided not to proceed with a similar application.

Poseida has announced the pricing of its IPO of 14 million shares of common stock at a public offering price of $16 per share for aggregate gross proceeds of about $224 million.

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In addition, Poseida has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 2.1 million shares of common stock at the IPO price. All of the shares are being offered by Poseida.

Based on the public offering price, the value of Malin’s stake in Poseida increases to approximately €130 million, a 17 per cent uplift to the last disclosed fair value estimate of Malin’s investment in Poseida of €111 million at the end of last year.

Malin did not participate in the IPO and following the IPO it will retain an approximate 15 per cent stake in the business. All of Malin’s shares of common stock in Poseida are restricted from resale for a period of 180 days under market standoff and lock-up agreements.

Commenting on the IPO, Darragh Lyons, Malin CEO, said: “Since Malin first invested in Poseida in 2015, the company has made tremendous progress in utilising its proprietary gene engineering technologies to create next generation cell and gene therapies.

“The IPO represents a further significant milestone in the Poseida journey ... As early investors in Poseida, we look forward to continuing to support the company as it seeks to deliver transformational treatments to patients.”

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson is an Irish Times reporter