Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Ligand) (NASDAQ: LGND) today announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement with Avista Public Acquisition Corp. II (APAC) (NASDAQ: AHPA), a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), providing for the spin-off of OmniAb, Inc. (OmniAb), Ligand’s antibody discovery business, immediately followed by a merger with a newly formed subsidiary of APAC. The combined company will be led by Ligand’s President, Matt Foehr, and will be renamed “OmniAb, Inc.”
Upon the closing of the transaction, Avista Capital Partners (Avista), APAC’s sponsor and a leading private equity firm focused on the healthcare industry, has agreed to invest up to $115 million in the combined company, and Ligand will contribute $15 million. The combined company will have an initial pre-money equity valuation of $850 million. Immediately prior to the transaction close, Ligand intends to distribute 100% of its ownership of OmniAb to Ligand shareholders in a tax-free distribution. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2022.
Ligand’s OmniAb antibody discovery platform provides pharmaceutical industry partners with access to diverse antibody repertoires and high-throughput screening technologies to enable the discovery of next-generation therapeutics. At the heart of the OmniAb platform is the Biological Intelligence™ (BI) of its proprietary transgenic animals including OmniRat, OmniChicken, and OmniMouse, which have been genetically modified to generate antibodies with human sequences to facilitate the development of human therapeutic candidates. Over 55 partners currently have access to OmniAb-derived antibodies and more than 250 programs are being actively developed or commercialized. In 2021, nine antibodies derived from the OmniAb platform entered clinical testing and two royalty-bearing antibodies received regulatory approvals.
“In late 2021, Ligand’s Board of Directors decided to separate Ligand into two public companies given the growth prospects and needs of our various proprietary technology platforms, and to unlock value to Ligand’s shareholders,” said John Higgins, CEO of Ligand. “We considered multiple ways to pursue a separation with the goals of ensuring a smooth transition of operations, a healthy balance sheet for both OmniAb and Ligand, and strong market sponsorship. As we were preparing for a first-half 2022 direct spin-off of OmniAb to Ligand’s shareholders, as discussed on our recent earnings call, we received an offer from Avista to merge OmniAb with their SPAC. The Avista team is comprised of high-quality healthcare operators and investors with an excellent track record. They have done extensive due diligence and see the potential and value of OmniAb, a highly competitive, leading platform with strong momentum given recent major clinical and regulatory successes. We are very pleased to partner with APAC and its shareholders to take OmniAb to the next level.”
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“The OmniAb business is positioned for continued growth and success as we provide partners with access to diverse antibody repertoires and cutting-edge high-throughput screening technologies that enable the discovery of next-generation therapeutics,” said Mr. Foehr. “Two OmniAb-derived antibodies recently received regulatory approvals in China and a third approval is expected in the United States later this year. Our growing roster of partners and new programs illustrates the value our technology offers. We are excited to join forces with Avista to further build and expand our differentiated capabilities with applicability to a variety of modalities, and to leverage our technical strengths to become the industry’s partner of choice.”
David Burgstahler, CEO of APAC, added, “OmniAb’s merger with APAC and its subsequent status as a standalone public company will help propel the company toward a new phase of growth and value creation. The merger will empower OmniAb with access to the capital markets, strong cash reserves, the agility to drive innovation, and a superb leadership team. We look forward to partnering with Matt and the entire organization as they continue to differentiate OmniAb as a critical partner in advancing drug discovery and development.”
Matt Foehr will lead OmniAb as CEO and will resign from his role as Ligand’s President and COO at closing. Kurt Gustafson has joined the OmniAb management team as CFO, bringing over 25 years of diverse experience in corporate finance and senior management roles in growth-oriented publicly-traded biopharmaceutical companies, most recently as CFO of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Gustafson previously served as CFO of Halozyme Therapeutics and held senior finance roles at Amgen.
Transaction Details
The combination of OmniAb and AHPA is structured to guarantee a minimum of $130 million in gross cash to the combined company at the time of closing, and up to $266 million in the event of no redemptions by APAC shareholders. APAC’s shareholders will be eligible to participate in the transaction or to elect redemption of their shares. Avista has agreed to guarantee that Avista and AHPA will provide at least $115 million of gross cash to the combined company through a $15 million PIPE investment and a $100 million facility to backstop potential redemptions. Ligand’s $15 million contributions to OmniAb will be made irrespective of the number of redemptions or the Avista contributions.
Ligand intends to distribute 100% of the equity in OmniAb to Ligand shareholders immediately prior to the business combination with APAC. The transaction will be effected through a “Reverse Morris Trust” transaction pursuant to which OmniAb will be spun-off to Ligand’s shareholders and simultaneously merged as a subsidiary of APAC. The transaction is expected to be tax-free to Ligand and its shareholders for U.S. federal income tax purposes, except for cash received in lieu of fractional shares. Upon the closing of the transaction, Ligand shareholders are expected to own approximately 75% to 84% of the combined company, depending on redemptions, which will be listed on the Nasdaq Global Markets under the ticker symbol “OABI”.
The Boards of Directors of both APAC and Ligand have unanimously approved the proposed transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of required regulatory approvals and receipt of approval from APAC’s shareholders.
Credit Suisse is acting as lead capital markets and financial advisor to OmniAb, Cowen, Stifel, SVB Leerink, and Truist Securities are also acting as capital markets and financial advisors to OmniAb, and CJS Securities, Craig-Hallum Capital Group LLC, H.C. Wainwright & Co., and Roth Capital Partners are acting as advisors to OmniAb. Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP is legal advisor to APAC. Latham & Watkins LLP as a legal advisor to Ligand.
Additional information about the transaction will be provided in a Current Report on Form 8-K to be filed by APAC with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and will be available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
Technologies
Following the completion of this transaction, OmniAb will consist of the OmniAb discovery platform featuring transgenic animals that have been genetically modified to generate antibodies with human sequences to facilitate the development of human therapeutic candidates, as well as the Icagen ion channel technology. Ligand Pharmaceuticals’ platform technologies will consist of the Captisol® technology, a patent-protected, chemically modified cyclodextrin with a structure designed to optimize the solubility and stability of drugs, and the Pelican Expression Technology®, a robust, validated, cost-effective and scalable platform for recombinant protein production that is especially well-suited for complex, large-scale protein production.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this news release, including statements regarding the expected timing and structure of the proposed transaction, the ability of the parties to complete the proposed transaction, the expected benefits of the proposed transaction, the tax consequences of the proposed transaction, the amount of gross proceeds expected to be available to OmniAb after the closing and giving effect to any redemptions by APAC shareholders, OmniAb’s future results of operations and financial position, business strategy and its expectations regarding the application of, and the rate and degree of market acceptance of, the OmniAb technology platform and other technologies, OmniAb’s expectations regarding the addressable markets for our technologies, including the growth rate of the markets in which it operates, the potential for and timing of receipt of milestones and royalties under OmniAb’s license agreements with partners, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions, or results, and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other important factors, many of which are outside the control of Ligand, OmniAb, and APAC, that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Important factors, among others, that may affect actual results or outcomes include, but are not limited to: the risk that the transactions may not be completed in a timely manner or at all, which may adversely affect the price of Ligand’s or APAC’s securities; the risk that APAC shareholder approval of the proposed transactions is not obtained; the inability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the proposed transactions, which may be affected by, among other things, the amount of funds available in APAC’s trust account following any redemptions by APAC’s shareholders; the failure to receive certain governmental and regulatory approvals; the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the merger agreement; changes in general economic conditions, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic or the conflict between Russia and Ukraine; the outcome of litigation related to or arising out of the proposed transactions, or any adverse developments therein or delays or costs resulting therefrom; the effect of the announcement or pendency of the transactions on Ligand’s, OmniAb’s or APAC’s business relationships, operating results, and businesses generally; the ability to continue to meet Nasdaq’s listing standards following the consummation of the proposed transactions; costs related to the proposed transactions; that the price of APAC’s or Ligand’s securities may be volatile due to a variety of factors, including Ligand’s, APAC’s or OmniAb’s inability to implement their business plans or meet or exceed their financial projections and changes in the combined capital structure; the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations after the completion of the proposed transactions, and identify and realize additional opportunities; and the ability of OmniAb to implement its strategic initiatives.
The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described in the “Risk Factors” section of APAC’s registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-257177), the registration statement on Form S-4, the registration statement on Form 10, the proxy/information statement/prospectus and certain other documents filed or that may be filed by APAC, Ligand or OmniAb from time to time with the SEC following the date hereof. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and Ligand, OmniAb, and APAC assume no obligation and do not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Neither Ligand, OmniAb, nor APAC gives any assurance that Ligand, OmniAb, or APAC will achieve their expectations. This caution is made under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Source: Biospace
