Horizon Discovery Share Discussion Threads

[kestelmill] 20/7/2017 16:35

Stratego, Your main issue with them seems to be that Dharmacon had shrinking revenues and boring siRNA technology. Any issue other than that? They are ticking a lot of boxes for me.

-A leader in gene editing products and services
-A leader in NGS standards
-Massive range of edited cell lines
-Strong penetration into research and pharma markets
-Rapidly growing revenues and market

[tonsil] 20/7/2017 15:34

HZD have been very astute so far. Their management deserve trust over this move. They can obviously see value and rapid US revenue growth ahead whereas they were barely in contention previously.

[stratego] 20/7/2017 15:27

you guys are smoking something. A mature dog of a company added onto an immature company = a dog company in most outcomes. The unlikely outcome is a magical turnaround and combined wonderfulness. Short.

[tonsil] 19/7/2017 22:27

StrategoThe value is in the people and a going concern that would take years to put together. The technology can quickly be broadened to HZD's leading edge.

[stratego] 19/7/2017 22:19

Bought a business with declining revenue - why all the excitement? SiRna technology is old news. Inexpensive RNA synthesis will negate need for Dharamacon.

[mamcw] 19/7/2017 16:54

A very strong finish to the trading day, with share price at an all time high on a great deal. Will be interested to see any new brokers' notes in the next few days. Patience has been rewarded with this stock. :)

[mamcw] 19/7/2017 14:30

Worthwhile looking through the investor presentation on the HZD website



Last 3 / 4 slides make particularly interesting reading in terms of explaining transaction rationale and potential market opportunity for HZD.

[kestelmill] 19/7/2017 12:21

Thanks for the insights mamcw

[mirabeau] 19/7/2017 11:21

I wonder how much GE initially paid for Dharmacon inc.?

I reckon GE thought HZD could do a better job of extracting value in this area of biotechnology than they could. This could explain why GE has maintained an indirect interest

I wonder if GE took a loss on this sale?

[gorilla36] 19/7/2017 11:17

mamcw - Excellent analysis! Thank you.

[mamcw] 19/7/2017 10:10

This is a very clever deal. HZD is doubling in size, but only paying around 30% of its market capitalisation to achieve this. Key drivers seem to be the e-commerce platform (90% of target's sales via this medium compared with 10% for HZD), the low cost manufacturing facilities, which have huge spare capacity (a staggering 30,000 sq ft) and which operate at 30% of the cost of Horizon's and access to the target's customer base, along with its US accreditations. Add to this meaningful cost synergies - I think I read £5m+ over 18 months from the announcement (on top of the revenue synergies). Net effect is a cracking deal, which cements HZD as a leading player in a very high growth market.

In response to a couple of other posts, the placing is non-preemptive ie we are not being offered any pro rata opportunity to top up. However, given the tight pricing to last night's close (4.4% discount), this is fair enough.

SP is rising because it is a great deal - transformational

[kestelmill] 19/7/2017 10:01

Why is the share price well above the new placing price?

[tonsil] 19/7/2017 09:30

Will the placing be selective or offered to all shareholders?

[kestelmill] 19/7/2017 09:07

Was the share price of the placing of new shares mentioned? I didn't see it...

[kestelmill] 19/7/2017 09:06

Market seems to like it...

[kestelmill] 19/7/2017 08:54

Disley's at it again!

It's good that GE will own some of it because it means they accepted shares as payment

[phowdo] 19/7/2017 08:06

Placing for it at negligible discount which is always good to see.

[jurgenklopp] 19/7/2017 08:01

Excellent deal by the looks of it.

However GE will retain a small percentage of the enlarged group:

"A subsidiary of General Electric Company is expected to own 8.8 per cent. of Horizon following the Acquisition and the Placing. A standstill and lock-up agreement will be entered into with Horizon, which provides for a 12 month standstill period and a separate 12-month lock-up period for the Consideration Shares, followed by a further 6-month orderly market period."

[mirabeau] 19/7/2017 07:04

Didn't see that coming. This is a major announcement

[phowdo] 13/7/2017 08:51

Interesting use of Crispr.

[kestelmill] 04/7/2017 10:06

Yes i also noticed this today. About time UK gets with the program on cancer diagnostics.

[mamcw] 04/7/2017 09:46

I would have that that HZD might put out an announcement responding to this report by the head of NHS England, as it basically validates everything HZD is doing and why it could be worth more than £10/ share in a few years time.

Prof Dame Sally Davies says in her annual report that the NHS must deliver her "genomic dream" within five years.
Over 31,000 NHS patients, including some with cancer, have already had their entire genetic code sequenced.
Dame Sally wants whole genome screening (WGS) to become as standard as blood tests and biopsies.

Personalised medicine
Humans have about 20,000 genes - bits of DNA code or instructions that control how our bodies works.
Tiny errors in this code can lead to cancer and other illnesses.
Sometimes these mistakes are inherited from a parent, but most of the time they happen in previously healthy cells.
WGS - which costs about £700 - can reveal these errors by comparing tumour and normal DNA samples from the patient.


Prof Dame Sally Davies says DNA testing should not be ruled out on the basis of cost
Dame Sally says that in about two-thirds of cases, this information can then improve their diagnosis and care.
Doctors can tailor treatments to the individual, picking the drugs mostly likely to be effective.
And WGS can also show which patients are unlikely to benefit, so they can avoid having unnecessary drugs and unpleasant side-effects.
Quicker diagnosis
Dame Sally wants DNA testing to become standard across cancer care, as well as some other areas of medicine, including rare diseases and infections.
"I want the NHS across the whole breadth to be offering genomic medicine - that means diagnosis of our genes - to patients where they can possibly benefit," her report says.
People with rare diseases could benefit from having greater access to the technology, speeding up diagnosis.
Doctors are already using genetic tests to identify and better treat different strains of the infectious disease tuberculosis.
Dame Sally said patients could be assured that their genetic data would be stored securely and "de-identified" so that their privacy would be protected.

The Genomic Dream

Over 10 years ago, international scientists reached a breakthrough in DNA work - sequencing the entire genetic blueprint of man. The Human Genome Project meant experts now had a catalogue of DNA code to explore and refer to.
They began to understand which genes controlled which processes in the body and how these could go wrong.
Doctors then started to "read" a patient's DNA to get a better idea of what might be causing their symptoms and how best to treat their illness.
Genomic medicine - tailoring care based on an individual's unique genetic code - is now transforming the way people are cared for by the NHS.
Genes can predict if a woman with breast cancer might respond to certain drugs, or whether radiotherapy is likely to shrink a tumour, for example.
Currently, genetic testing of NHS patients in England is done at 25 regional laboratories, as well as some other small centres.
Dame Sally wants to centralise the service and set up a national network to ensure equal access to the testing across the country.
A new National Genomics Board would be set up, chaired by a minister, to oversee the expansion and development of genomic services.

Sensitive data
Dame Sally told BBC Breakfast that a lot of money was being spent because it was currently operating like a "cottage industry".
By having centralised laboratories, more could be done with the money, including keeping up with the latest technology, she said.
She said one hurdle could be doctors themselves, who "don't like change", and she urged cancer service patients to press their doctors to move from a local to a national service.
She also said patients must understand they needed to allow use of their data, alongside other data, in order to get the best diagnosis, and therefore the best treatment.
Phil Booth, from campaigning organisation, MedConfidential, said this move had "huge potential" for patients and the NHS, but there were "great risks with large collections of sensitive data".
"Every single use of patient data must be consensual, safe and transparent," he told BBC Radio Four's Today programme, and patients should be able to opt-out if they so wish.

[mamcw] 29/6/2017 13:18

Some rather positive purchases today following the AGM. Will be interesting to see if we can break through the 220p level.