The bioink company has entered an agreement with the owners of Cytena to acquire all its shares for a purchase price of 30.25M euros.
Through cytena’s complementary technology offering, Cellink sees great synergies that will support future growth.
About Cytena
Cytena is a life science company focusing on single-cell technologies. It was founded in 2014 within the Institute for Microsystems Technology (IMTEK) at the University of Freiburg, and primarily sells solutions for handling biological cells. The team has developed a patented single-cell printer technology, which enables users to isolate and dispense single cells in a documented, gentle and sterile process. The single-cell printers have been manufactured in Germany since 2015 and are marketed worldwide. In 2018, the x.sight series was added to the company’s product portfolio. Most of the top ten pharmaceutical companies use cytena’s single-cell printers to produce clonal cell lines for manufacturing biologicals, such as antibodies.
The acquisition
The acquisition is in line with Cellink’s commercial strategy, strengtheningits product offering and providing a more complete 3D cell culturing solution, it states. Cytena’s technology platform allows dispensing of single cells, enabling researchers to isolate cells for cell line development and build microtissues faster and more reproducibly, its products fit well within Cellink’s current product portfolio and will enhance the group’s product offering and its products are most suitable for pharmaceutical companies, an area and market which Cellink has communicated interest in expanding further into. With this acquisition, Cellink aims to increase market penetration in the pharmaceutical field.
“We are excited to welcome cytena to the Cellink family of life-science companies with this strategic acquisition. We are furthering Cellink’s global commercial strategy by focusing on the pharmaceutical industry and providing the most innovative solutions to researchers around the world. With cytena’s revolutionary technology platforms we will streamline workflows for our present and future customers, and enhance our presence in the pharmaceutical industry, a strategy that is well aligned with our vision. Together with Dispendix and cytena, we will be well-positioned to offer comprehensive solutions for both academic and pharmaceutical customers worldwide,” says Erik Gatenholm, CEO, Cellink.
The purchase
The purchase will be paid partly in cash and partly through Cellink shares. The newly issued Cellink shares will be covered by 30 months lockup (of which 100% of shares will be under lockup for one year, 70% for two years and approximately 40% for the full 30 months.)
Cellink estimates that Cytena’s turnaround will be approximately 4.5M euros (3.0M euros, 2018) in the 2019 calendar year with an EBITDA-margin of approximately 40%. Due to strong growth, no positive cashflow is anticipated from the business in 2019.
Purchase price and financing of the acquisition
The total purchase price of 100% of cytena shares, including a net cash position of 2.9M euros, amounts to 30.25M euros. Approximately 11.4M euros will be paid in cash and 18.85M euros will be paid by newly issued Cellink shares at a price of 297.17 SEK per share, translating to 674,678 shares and corresponding to 5.14% of the votes and 6.9% of the share capital in Cellink. The purchase price corresponds to a total enterprise value of approximately 27.45M euros for cytena on a cash- and debt-free basis.
Photo of the founders of Cellink
About Cellink
What to learn more about Cellink and its journey? Do not miss our upcoming issue of the magazine, NLS 03 2019, where the company and its co-founder Erik Gatenholm will be profiled.
