The biotech company Prenetics is slated to be the first Hong Kong unicorn – billion-dollar start-up – to become a public company.
Prenetics is uniting with Artisan Acquisition to go public in a deal that will value the merged organization at $1.7 billion, according to CNBC. The deal is expected to be done by the fourth quarter of 2021 and the new company will trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol PRE, CNBC reported.
Prenetics provides diagnostic and genetic testing in 10 countries. The company created Circle HealthPod, which allows people to conduct at home COVID-19 tests with the same accuracy as PCR tests. The company believes at-home testing will be a vital part of its future.
CEO Danny Yeung told CNBC that the company expects to profit from the alliance with Artisan Acquisition.
“(The) U.S. is a priority market for us, Southeast Asia and the rest of Europe — certainly, we are going to be investing back into growth, manufacturing, product development and R&D," Yeung said.
Prenetics is expected to generate $459 million in cash from funds already raised by Artisan and $120 million from a private investment in public equity funding round, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Artisan is advised by UBS and Prenetics is advised by Citigroup.