Zealand Pharma

Lead Manager

Van Lanschot Kempen supports the next wave of obesity treatments by acting as Zealand Pharma’s Lead Manager in the largest Nordic biotech offering ever of USD 1.0 billion / DKK 7.0 billion

Transaction highlights

The USD 1.0 billion / DKK 7.0 billion capital increase by Zealand Pharma marks the largest Nordic biotech offering and the second largest European biotech follow-on offering ever
The capital increase was upsized from USD 900 million / DKK 6.3 billion to USD 1.0 billion / DKK 7.0 billion, through an offering of 8,350,000 new shares, corresponding to c. 13% of the company’s outstanding capital prior to the capital increase, at a price of DKK 843, representing a discount of 5.1% vis-à-vis the last closing price ahead of transaction launch
Van Lanschot Kempen played an instrumental role in securing anchor orders from new tier-1 long-only and international life science investors, and was able to successfully cover the deal size multiple times. Zealand Pharma CFO Henriette Wennicke: “We have a longstanding relationship with Van Lanschot Kempen. Over the years they have supported Zealand’s relationships with specialist healthcare investors and played a contributing role in this transaction.”
The transaction was launched on the back of positive topline results from Zealand’s long-acting amylin analog petrelintide, which drove a +37% share price increase and shows robust potential as an effective alternative to GLP-1RA-based therapies for weight management
Zealand Pharma intends to use the funds for the continued development of its proprietary pipeline of investigational peptide-based therapeutics, including to advance Zealand’s obesity programs through the clinic
Our collaboration with Zealand Pharma builds on the long-standing relationship between Zealand Pharma and Van Lanschot Kempen. Van Lanschot Kempen’s Head of Life Sciences & Healthcare Research Suzanne van Voorthuizen was the first to write about amylin as an underappreciated asset in Zealand’s pipeline back in December 2021
We are proud to have assisted Zealand Pharma following our previous involvement in the company’s EIB financing in 2023 and successful capital increases in April 2023 and October 2022

Company description

Zealand Pharma A/S (Nasdaq: ZEAL) (“Zealand”) is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of peptide-based medicines. More than 10 drug candidates invented by Zealand have advanced into clinical development, of which two have reached the market and three candidates are in late-stage development. The company has development partnerships with several pharma companies as well as commercial partnerships for its marketed products. Zealand was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, with presence in the U.S. For more information about Zealand’s business and activities, please visit www.zealandpharma.com.

Background Van Lanschot Kempen Life Sciences & Healthcare

In the last twelve months, Van Lanschot Kempen has successfully completed a large number of transactions in its Life Sciences & Healthcare franchise. Recent transactions include:

Lead Manager in the USD 460 million Capital Increase by Merus
Sole Financial Adviser to Pharming Group in the refinancing of its convertible bonds
Financial Adviser in the SEK 107 million Rights Issue by Alligator Bioscience
Co-Manager in the USD 350 million Capital Increase by Autolus Therapeutics
Financial Adviser to Galapagos in the EUR 170 million sale of its Jyseleca business to Alfasigma
Sole Financial Adviser to Zealand Pharma in securing a EUR 90 million venture debt facility from the European Investment Bank
Joint Global Coordinator & Joint Bookrunner in the SEK 59 million Capital Increase by Cantargia
Joint Global Coordinator & Joint Lead Bookrunner in the NOK 505 million Capital Increase by Nykode Therapeutics
Sole Financial Adviser in the SEK 120 million Structured Equity transaction by SynAct Pharma
Lead Manager in the USD 173 million Capital Increase by Merus
Lead Manager in the USD 1.3 billion Capital Increase by argenx
Joint Bookrunner in the SEK 500 million Capital Increase by Vicore Pharma
Financial Adviser to NewAmsterdam Pharma in the USD 182 million secondary sell-down by existing investors

Contact

Kathrin Erfurth

Mail Kathrin Erfurth

Nadine Maalouf

Mail Nadine Maalouf