Temasek-backed Oxford Nanopore prices IPO to give valuation of up to £3.5b: bookrunner

[LONDON] The initial public offering (IPO) for Oxford Nanopore, a provider of rapid Covid-19 tests to Britain's national health services, will have an indicative price of 375 to 450 pence per share, a bookrunner said on Thursday.

The offer will total £523 million (S$964.1 million) to £547 million, giving the life sciences company an implied market capitalisation of £3 billion to £3.5 billion, the bookrunner said.

Earlier this month, US tech company Oracle said it has committed to buying £150 million of new shares at Nanopore's upcoming IPO in London.

A successful float would be a major coup for the London Stock Exchange as most British pharma and life science companies tend to list on New York's Nasdaq, home to the world's biggest drugmakers.

The company, which counts IP Group and Singapore's Temasek among its shareholders, provides DNA/RNA sequencing technology for sectors such as biomedical, infectious diseases and food and agriculture.

Bank of America, Citi and JPMorgan are global coordinators for the float.

REUTERS