Keith Meister-backed SPAC to merge with biotech firm EQRx in $3.65 bln deal (updated)

EQRx

06/08/2021 12:21

(Adds PIPE, other details)
    Aug 6 (Reuters) - CM Life Sciences III  CMLT.O , the third
blank-check firm backed by activist investor Keith Meister and
life sciences investor Eli Casdin, will take EQRx Inc public in
a deal that gives the biotech firm an enterprise value of $3.65
billion, the companies said on Friday.
    The deal, which will result in cash proceeds of $1.8 billion
for EQRx, includes a private investment in public equity (PIPE)
of $1.2 billion from SB Management Limited, a subsidiary of
Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp  9984.T , Casdin
Capital, Corvex Management and others.
    Blank-check firms are publicly traded companies that use the
funds from their initial public offerings to buy private firms,
taking them public in the process.
    The huge size of the PIPE funding, which often accompanies
such deals, further points to a rebound in dealmaking in the
blank-check industry, after a chill earlier due to regulatory
clampdown and saturated investor demand.  
    Founded in 2019, EQRx, which counts Andreessen Horowitz and
Casdin Capital among its backers, seeks to develop low-cost
medicines.
    It is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and has a pipeline
that includes potential therapies for diseases including lung
cancer and liver cancer. The company has raised $800 million in
funding to date, according to its website.
    


 (Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; editing by Vinay
Dwivedi)
 ((Niket.Nishant@thomsonreuters.com;))