Malin Corporation PLC Business Updates (8297I)

TIDM0Y71

RNS Number : 8297I

Malin Corporation PLC

07 December 2022

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014.

Malin Corporation plc

Business Updates

-- Malin has sold down its entire position in Immunocore generating aggregate proceeds of approximately EUR145 million

-- Malin expects to complete a capital return to shareholders of approximately EUR140 million via a tender offer to be launched by the end of February 2023

-- Malin's estimate of its intrinsic equity value per share at 6 December 2022 is EUR9.27 per share

Dublin-Ireland, 7 December 2022: Malin Corporation plc. (Euronext Growth Dublin:MLC) ("Malin", the "Company"), provides the following business updates.

Sale of Malin's 5% stake in Immunocore

Malin is pleased to announce that it has completed the divestment of its entire stake in Immunocore in the market at an average price of approximately $59 per share, generating total cash proceeds of approximately EUR145 million. This includes the divestment of the 380k shares sold during August 2022 and previously reported in Malin's interim financial results in September 2022. Malin generated a 90% gain on its total capital invested in Immunocore of approximately EUR77 million.

While Malin retains confidence in the potential of Immunocore's technology platform, clinical pipeline and management team, Malin determined that the realisation of value at recent market prices represented an optimal value inflection point for Malin.

Current Cash Position

Malin's current cash balance is EUR174 million. The primary movements in the Company's cash balance in the period since 5 September 2022 (Malin's 2022 Interim Report) are set out below:

 
                                      EUR'm 
 Cash at 5 September 2022              40 
                                     ------ 
 Proceeds from sale of Immunocore 
  shares                               124 
                                     ------ 
 Viamet milestone payment received     13 
                                     ------ 
 Kymab escrow payment received          6 
                                     ------ 
 Corporate OpEx, litigation costs 
  & working capital movements          (2) 
                                     ------ 
 Investment in CG Oncology             (7) 
                                     ------ 
 Cash at 6 December 2022               174 
                                     ------ 
 

Further details on the investee company-related cash movements are provided in the Investee Company Updates section below.

Capital Return

As part of its stated capital allocation strategy, Malin remains committed to returning excess capital of the business to our shareholders having taken account of the expected capital deployment and corporate spending needs of the business as well as the expected timing, quantum and probability of further capital inflows from our assets. Following an assessment of its capital requirements, Malin intends to return approximately EUR140 million to shareholders. The remaining cash balance will be used to fund the Company's operations, including the possible investment of additional capital into Malin's existing assets if attractive investment opportunities arise or if it is determined the additional capital will help advance the investee company towards a value inflection point or realisation opportunity.

Malin's board has concluded that a tender offer will be used as the mechanism to return the capital to shareholders and intends to launch such on offer in February 2023. The terms of the tender offer have not yet been determined. The tender offer will be conditional on the approval of shareholders at a general meeting. Details of the tender offer will be announced in conjunction with the publication of a notice of an extraordinary general meeting which is expected to be published in February 2023.

Updated Intrinsic Equity Value per share

Estimated intrinsic equity value is calculated using our estimate of the fair value of our investee company holdings in accordance with International Private Equity and Venture Capital Valuation ("IPEV") guidelines and adjusting this value for Malin's cash balance, and has been presented below as at 6 December 2022. For further information on the basis of our IPEV fair value estimates, please refer to our Interim Financial Statements at 30 June 2022.

 
                             6 December        5 September   30 June 
                                2022               2022        2022 
                          Malin 
                         % holding     EUR'm       EUR'm       EUR'm 
                       -----------  --------  ------------  -------- 
 Poseida                   14%         54          41          24 
                       -----------  --------  ------------  -------- 
 Immunocore                 -           -          110         89 
                       -----------  --------  ------------  -------- 
 Kymab                      -           6          11          11 
                       -----------  --------  ------------  -------- 
 Viamet                    15%         51          80          80 
                       -----------  --------  ------------  -------- 
 Xenex                     11%         13          16          16 
                       -----------  --------  ------------  -------- 
 CG Oncology                2%          7           -           - 
                       -----------  --------  ------------  -------- 
 Other                      -          10          10          11 
                       -----------  --------  ------------  -------- 
                                       141         268         231 
                       -----------  --------  ------------  -------- 
 Corporate Cash                        174        40.4         28 
                       -----------  --------  ------------  -------- 
 Estimated intrinsic 
  equity value                         315         309         259 
                       -----------  --------  ------------  -------- 
 Estimated intrinsic 
  equity value per 
  share                              EUR9.27     EUR9.08     EUR7.61 
                       -----------  --------  ------------  -------- 
 

Investee Company Updates

Poseida

Poseida is advancing its fully allogeneic (or universal donor) CAR-T portfolio and will present early but encouraging clinical data from both the BCMA and MUC1-C programs at the European Society for Medical Oncology Immuno-Oncology (ESMO I-O) 2022 Annual Congress taking place later this week. Poseida has de-prioritised its only remaining autologous program, P-PSMA-101, and has stopped enrollment in the Phase 1 trial.

Poseida is also progressing its gene therapy collaboration with Takeda and its cell therapy collaboration with Roche and achieved the first clinical milestone under the Roche collaboration of $35 million in September 2022.

Malin has estimated the fair value of its 14% stake in Poseida based on the market price of Poseida's shares on 6 December 2022.

Kymab

Kymab was sold to Sanofi in April 2021 for an upfront payment of approximately $1.1 billion and up to $350 million of contingent payments upon the achievement of certain milestones. Malin received the final portion of its escrow payment on the upfront consideration of approximately EUR6 million in November 2022. Malin's remaining fair value estimate for its Kymab position of EUR6 million at 6 December 2022 is based on a probability-adjusted discounted cash flow model of Malin's portion of the contingent milestone payments.

Viamet

In April 2022, Mycovia, the successor company to Malin's investee company Viamet, announced the approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of VIVJOA (oteseconazole) for the treatment of RVVC in females with a history of recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis (RVVC) and who are not of reproductive potential. In November 2022, Malin received a milestone payment related to the approval of this drug of approximately EUR13 million.

Malin has engaged closely with Mycovia in recent months to understand and quantify the commercial implications of the drug being contraindicated in females of reproductive potential and in pregnant women, as well as the possible future regulatory and commercial strategies that may be pursued by Mycovia to extend the targeted patient population. Malin has re-estimated the timing, quantum and probability of its expected inflows, resulting in a decrease in the fair value estimate of approximately EUR16 million. Taken together with the EUR13 million reduction in the Viamet fair value estimate following the receipt of the milestone payment in November 2022, Malin's fair value estimate for Viamet has decreased by approximately EUR29 million to EUR51 million at 6 December 2022.

Xenex

Malin has re-estimated the fair value of its position in Xenex based on current market conditions resulting in a EUR3 million reduction in the fair value estimate.

CG Oncology

Malin completed a $7 million investment in CG Oncology ("CGO") in September 2022 as part of a $120 million Series E funding round. CGO is a Phase 3-stage oncolytic immunotherapy company focused on developing bladder saving therapeutics for patients with bladder cancer. With continued clinical progress, Malin expects CGO to attract significant near-term strategic and investor interest and determined that the risk, maturity timeline and value profile of the investment was aligned with the existing assets of Malin.

S 

About Malin Corporation plc

Malin (Euronext Growth Dublin:MLC) is a company investing in highly innovative life sciences companies. Its purpose is to create shareholder value through the application of long-term capital and operational and strategic expertise to a diverse range of global healthcare businesses. Malin has a focus on innovative businesses underpinned by exceptional science and works with its investee companies, providing strategic and financial support to enable them to reach their value potential. Malin is headquartered and domiciled in Ireland and listed on the Euronext Growth Dublin. For more information visit www.malinplc.com

For further information please contact:

Malin

Fiona Dunlevy, Company Secretary

Tel: [phone]

[e-mail]

Davy Corporate Finance (Euronext Growth Listing Sponsor & Joint Broker)

Brian Garrahy / Daragh O'Reilly

Tel: [phone]

Liberum (Joint Broker)

Phil Walker / Ben Cryer

Tel: [phone]

Powerscourt (Media enquiries)

Eavan Gannon

Tel: [phone]

[e-mail]

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact [e-mail] or visit www.rns.com.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy Policy.

END

UPDUNAORUBUURUA

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 07, 2022 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)