Mauna Kea Technologies secures an equity line financing with Vester Finance limited to a maximum of 11.4% of the capital
Cash position of €6.7m at May 31, 2023 strengthened by USD 2.5m received from the joint venture with Tasly Pharmaceutical
Paris and Boston, May 31, 2023 - 6:30 pm CEST - Mauna Kea Technologies (Euronext: MKEA) inventor of Cellvizio®, the multidisciplinary miniprobe and needle confocal laser endomicroscopy (p/nCLE) platform, announces the implementation of an equity line financing with Vester Finance in the form of a PACEO limited to a maximum of 11.4% of the capital, as announced during the 2022 annual results.
In addition, the Company today received USD 2.5 million (€2.3 million) from the joint venture with Tasly Pharmaceutical following the achievement of contractual milestones.
With a cash position of 6.7 million euros at May 31, 2023, the Company’s cash runway now extends to the end of the 2nd quarter 2024, notwithstanding potential new strategic agreements.
Sacha Loiseau, Chairman and CEO of Mauna Kea Technologies declared: "Our partnership with Tasly Pharmaceutical is progressing as planned, and today marks an important milestone with the payment of an additional USD 2.5 million by the joint venture. Beyond this collaboration and the sales momentum observed in Q1 2023, it is important to ensure continued strong financial discipline and secure the Company's financial visibility. This equity line, deliberately limited to a maximum of 11.4% of the capital, can be suspended at any time by the Company depending on its actual needs. In doing so, we are renewing a transaction that we have already carried out successfully in the past with Vester Finance, which reflects the confidence we have in the quality and adaptability of its execution".
Under the terms of the agreement signed on May 31, 2023, Vester Finance agreed to subscribe for a maximum of 5,500,000 shares in the Company, representing up to 11.4% of the share capital, at its own initiative, over a maximum period of 24 months, subject to certain customary contractual conditions.
The shares will be issued based on the average stock market price preceding each issuance, less a maximum discount of 6.0%, in compliance with the pricing policy and the cap set by the Annual General Meeting, as well as a variable fee of up to 2.5%.
The Company has agreed to a minimum use of 750,000 euros from the equity line, corresponding to a dilution of around 2.5% at the current share price, beyond which the Company retains the right to suspend or terminate this agreement at any time and at no cost.
This transaction was decided by the Company's Board of Directors in accordance with the 25th resolution of the Annual General Meeting of June 2, 2022.
Assuming full use of this equity line, a shareholder holding 1.00% of Mauna Kea Technologies' capital before the transaction would see a reduction in his stake to 0.90% of the capital on a non-diluted basis and 0.76% of the capital on a diluted basis.
The present transaction is not subject to a prospectus submitted for approval to the Autorité des marchés financiers, based on article 1st of the Prospectus Regulation granting an exemption when a transaction involves a dilution of less than 20% of the Company's share capital.
The number of shares issued under this transaction and admitted to trading will be announced on the Company's website.
This equity line financing was structured and underwritten by Vester Finance, a European company which regularly invests in small-cap growth companies, particularly in the healthcare and biotech sectors. Vester Finance, acting here as an investor with no intention of remaining a shareholder, will sell the shares over time. Such a sale is likely to have an impact on the volatility and liquidity of the stock, as well as on the Company's share price. Over the last 25 similar equity line transactions carried out by Vester Finance, the companies’ share prices have risen by an average of +19% and market capitalizations by +53%.
