Drug developer CG Oncology targets up to $306 mln for upsized IPO (updated)
23/01/2024 11:23
(Adds detail on management, rivals in paragraphs 8-9)
Jan 23 (Reuters) - Cancer drug developer CG Oncology
said on Tuesday it was aiming to raise up to $306 million in its
upsized initial public offering in New York, underscoring the
resurgent demand for new share sales after a two-year dry spell.
IPO-bound companies and their shareholders have been able to
raise more capital via stock offerings, thanks to a market rally
on firming bets of an interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
Kaspi.kz, the Kazakhstan-based fintech heavyweight that
debuted last week, had also upsized its IPO.
CG Oncology said it plans to sell 17 million shares priced
between $16 and $18 each. It had earlier aimed to raise up to
$212.4 million.
If the offering is priced at the top end of the indicated
range, the company would be valued at $1.1 billion in the IPO.
From the healthcare space, CG Oncology is looking to test
the IPO market along side KKR-backed BrightSpring Health
Services and Moderna-backed Metagenomi .
CG Oncology is developing a therapy for patients with
bladder cancer. Founded in 2010 under the name "Cold Genesys,"
the company changed its name a decade later.
The Irvine, California-based company is led by Arthur Kuan,
a seasoned healthcare investor, and counts Merck MRK.N , Gilead
Sciences GILD.O and ImmunityBio IBRX.O among its major
competitors.
Biotech investor ORI Capital and life sciences investor
Decheng Capital are its biggest shareholders.
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Cantor and LifeSci Capital
are the underwriters to the IPO. The company is seeking to list
on the Nasdaq under the symbol "CGON".
(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun
Koyyur)
((Niket.Nishant@thomsonreuters.com;))