SPAC swoop
Macro & Overnight
The extended weekend media talked about the perilous state of the US commercial real estate sector and the global threat to the US dollar trading system as the next risk vectors for the US and world financial system.
However, the dollar has strengthened, yields are stable, and the gold price has eased below $2000. Meanwhile, Bitcoin, sometimes called digital gold, has increased through the $30000 level (up 80% YTD), coinciding with suggestions that Coinbase is looking to adopt the Bitcoin Lightning Network.
US inflation data is released tomorrow. Consensus estimates are for the annual rate to decline from 6% to 5.2%.
UK Company News
Biopharma Credit, the specialist life sciences debt provider, has agreed a senior secured loan for ImmunoGen. BioPharma-V will invest up to US$62.5m in parallel with the Company. The loan matures in 2028 and will bear interest at 3-month SOFR plus 8.00%. ImmunoGen is developing the next generation of antibody-drug conjugates to improve outcomes for cancer patients by generating targeted therapies with enhanced anti-tumour activity and favourable tolerability profiles.
Biopharma is a highly specialist lender with deep domain knowledge of biotech products it lends against future revenue streams.
Spectral MD, a small US-based wound care company with novel technology, is being acquired by a US-listed SPAC at some 4x its recent market valuation.
Spectral MD has interesting technology but was always subscale to find capital away from its home market efficiently. However, today’s news will undoubtedly be headlined as another blow to the UK listing regime for technology companies.
Sustainable fund manager Impax Asset Management announced an increase in AUM of 5.7%. It cited that policy moves such as the Inflation Reduction Act in the US and similar measures in Europe and Asia have already attracted capital flows into many areas of the economy in which Impax invests.
Fund administrator JTC had FY results with revenue up 35.6%, driven by record net organic growth of 12.0%. It also recorded new business wins and solid cash conversion. It says that momentum continued in the new year. It has a healthy M&A pipeline and is retaining medium-term guidance metrics.
Prognosticator
NB Prices are as at the previous day’s close.
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