Venn Life Sciences Share Discussion Threads

[yump] 11/12/2015 08:58

That makes sense. Actually the 4 quoted in the admission doc only add up to around 30%, so there must be a lot of separate holders under 3%, in which case there whould be plenty of liquidity if they were all pi's. So presumably the others are all holding on tight.

Perhaps the comment about liquidity is just one of those standard ones that doesn't really mean much.

[tech] 11/12/2015 07:55

I think they already have been doing this hence the depressed price. There have been some big trades on a few occasions and they look like sells

[yump] 11/12/2015 07:50

Given that they want increased liquidity and that 89% of the shares are not in public hands, presumably Livingbridge and Calculus will be feeding some shares into the market to satisfy demand.

[tech] 11/12/2015 07:45

This is the best line

- the CEO's comment that this is "at a time of strong growth and our move into profitability"

Well under priced, hopefully a better year next year for the share price

[rivaldo] 11/12/2015 07:40

A number of positives in today's RNS's:

- Davy coming in as main broker and NOMAD. This is a big step up from Hybridan
- a listing on the ESM, which will aid investor interest and liquidity
- the CEO's comment that this is "at a time of strong growth and our move into profitability"

[cumbrian2] 09/12/2015 15:37

Pharma not in fashion at the moment. Bad year for me on HZD and QP. but at least this is hovering around my buy price. Still have hopes for a good 2016 on all three despite none of them being ''safe bets'' in the current market! I think Techinvest have three separate positions for VENN in their portfolio (not a subscriber) so they must be confident

[rivaldo] 09/12/2015 11:53

Good to see a quick move up today.

Last year there was a year end trading statement on 23rd December, so not long to go.

[mulligut] 16/11/2015 17:41

Every trading statement has been able to shed light on the future and every time they have hit their targets. Now it is coming into profit so the only growth dilution is likely to be earning enhancing. That is a long term investment gem. This is still below the radar of most analysts so it may take a few more updates to get a larger following. However there is nothing wrong with the business model of Venn and those who have patience will be rewarded.

[shrout] 16/11/2015 16:46

Very frustrating, this one... doesn't seem to be able to break out of the trading range 19.5/25.5. I'm beginning to wonder whether things are quite as rosy as they have been painted.

[proactivest] 26/10/2015 10:02

Video interview with CEO Richardson



Tony Richardson, chief executive of Venn Life Sciences (LON:VENN), says the clinical research organisation’s key objective is to pitch for bigger pieces of business resulting in significant multi-million euro contracts.

Richardson’s prediction follows the announcement of a €1mln contract from a French biotech. Venn has worked with the unnamed client on a previous clinical trial and Richardson says more large repeat contracts make the delivery of future growth ‘a little easier.’

[cheshire man] 23/10/2015 08:05

Good news indeed for VENN :-)

[playful] 23/10/2015 07:42

Wonderful news, been waiting here a long time but alway had confidence in their prospects

[rivaldo] 23/10/2015 07:29

Another €1m+ contract win for VENN - these are big contracts for a mere £9m m/cap company, but in particular the fact that it's repeat business is very encouraging:



"Contract for over €1m with leading French Biotech

Venn Life Sciences (AIM: VENN), a growing Clinical Research Organisation providing clinical trial management and resourcing solutions to pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device clients, announces the signing of a project worth in excess of €1m with a leading French Biotech company.

The Phase I-II project is centred on acute T-cell leukaemia ('ATL'), and will cover multiple regions, including France (and French administered overseas territories), the UK and the US. This project will run for 33 months and follows on from a previous successful trial with the same company.

Tony Richardson, Chief Executive Officer of Venn said: "The €1m project illustrates the high standard of execution for Venn's projects and how this can be used to generate repeat customer business. We have a growing client base, a strong book of business and a clear opportunity to secure more repeat business through high performance.""

[rivaldo] 19/10/2015 11:12

Amati VCT's September report just out notes that they are new holders of VENN - the same goes for the Amati VCT 2:



"We took a new qualifying position in Venn Life Sciences, a European clinical research organisation (CRO), by way of a placing. The funds raised will be used for the acquisition of Kinesis, a Dutch CRO with expertise in pre-clinical phase drug development trials, in a deal which will broaden Venn’s geographic exposure and enlarge its therapeutic base to cover the full developmental cycle."

[rivaldo] 19/10/2015 08:16

News this morning that the Kinesis acquisition has completed smoothly, and that the Kinesis MD has come on to VENN's Board, but the most interesting aspect is the CEO's specific comment about further acquisitions on the horizon:

"This appointment will add capability and capacity which will allow us to explore further acquisition opportunities"

[aishah] 14/10/2015 12:33

Techinvest Special Situations Fund Oct update:

"Recent activity includes an addition to the Fund’s holding in Venn Life Sciences following a strong set of results for the half year and the announcement of potentially transformational acquisition. The Company plans to acquire a Netherlands-based provider of consultancy services around non-clinical and early
clinical drug development. This will help Venn establish client relationships earlier in the drug development lifecycle and offer cross selling opportunities for its existing clinical research offerings."

[rivaldo] 13/10/2015 13:40

Welcome CM, got high hopes here.

Techinvest a week or so ago posted a nice summary FYI:

"Venn Life Sciences (VENN; AIM)

Alongside its results for the half year, Venn announced a share placing and a potentially transformational acquisition. The Company plans to acquire Netherlands-based Kinesis Pharma, a provider of consultancy services
around non-clinical and early clinical drug development, for a maximum €6.5m.
Currently this is not an area of speciality for Venn and the management believe it will help establish relationships earlier with clients, boosting cross selling of downstream services such as clinical operations.

A key catalyst for the acquisition is the shift of the drug industry towards addressing potential efficacy and safety issues earlier in the development lifecycle which helps to save costs and time. With Kinesis on board, Venn
will be able to provide a “start to finish” offering and appeal to a wider client base. Subject to approval at a General Meeting on October 9, Venn will raise £3.5m via a placing at 22p per share. Cash of €2.0m and €1.6m in shares will be paid on completion of the deal, with the remaining €2.9m (50:50 cash and shares) payable based on future performance.

For the year ended 31 December 2014, Kinesis achieved revenue of €5.9m and
Adjusted EBITDA of €0.6m.

Separately, the interim results came in slightly better than suggested in August’s trading statement (see last month’s Techinvest; Page 7). Fee income for the six months ended June 30 was €4.3m, up 182% on the comparable period of 2014. EBITDA losses narrowed to €0.04m from €0.91m. The successful integration of Cardinal Systems (acquired in August 2014) has helped position Venn to bid for larger scale projects.

A total of €9m new contracts were secured in H1. A full contribution from these is expected in the second half and beyond.

The highly-complementary acquisition of Kinesis is an exciting development. While other bolt-ons are possible, we get the impression that Venn has now reached critical mass. Organic growth should ramp up fromhere. Very strong hold / Add."

[cheshire man] 13/10/2015 09:28

Interesting company, joined you here last week, looking forward to see what acquisitions VENN are looking at!

[rivaldo] 13/10/2015 07:55

...and some interesting trades reported after the close yesterday, with 100k bought at 24p and two 86k trades at 25p.

[rivaldo] 12/10/2015 14:10

Good to see this moving up steadily. Worth looking at the ISDX as there was some small buying at the close of last week there too.

[rivaldo] 06/10/2015 08:50

Thx for the replies above chaps - you're right AISHAH, that's a very large holding by Techinvest's standards.

And it seems VENN are still on the lookout for more acquisitions:



"Richardson's Venn Life Sciences eyes Eastern Europe after buyout

Irish clinical-research business Venn Life Sciences is eyeing up acquisitions in Eastern Europe after agreeing to buy a Dutch business for up to €6.5m.

CEO Tony Richardson, formerly boss of pharmaceutical company Alltracel which was sold for £20.8m in 2008, said the AIM-listed Venn has "talked a lot as a company about getting full European coverage.

"At the moment, our locations are all pretty much in Western Europe, so we're looking at Central and Eastern Europe, trying to get some footprint and capability out there and we've had a couple of discussions. They're fairly early-stage, though.

"We're looking at one or two other opportunities, nothing hugely developed at the moment."

Richardson said Venn's priority after the acquisition of the Dutch business, Kinesis, is to grow by cross-selling the different services within its business.

"Combined, we've got a really good client pool to go back to now, with a more complete service offering.

"We do clinical trials management in what we call phases two to four.

"In summary, that's where you're giving a drug or medication to patients or people who have a particular condition, with a view to hopefully having a submission to a regulator at the end of that process.

"Kinesis do everything up to that stage, so if you're a biotech company they would help you to formulate and optimise your compound," he said.

He said the company's plan is to continue to grow its business on AIM."

[yump] 05/10/2015 17:54

Don't know why I ever invested in any 'discovery' or new product meds, when the services side is relatively de-risked.

Hopefully Venn is large enough to get some good sized contracts, but small enough to grow significantly.

[aishah] 05/10/2015 09:17

They are very keen on VENN. Now holding 140k shares in their portfolio.

[tech] 05/10/2015 09:10

Transformational acquisition, should be completed on the 9th Oct, Venn has now reached critical mass point