Mesoblast Completes A$170m Private Placement

Mesoblast Limited has announced that it has completed a private placement of its shares, raising A$170 million.

Under the placement, 26,970,979 fully paid ordinary shares were issued at A$6.30 per share, a discount of 2.2 per cent to the closing price of the company’s shares on 1 March 2013.

The total shares on issue have now increased by 9.4 per cent to 314,811,301.

The shares were placed to a select group of existing strategic investors and new United States and global institutional funds, including M & G Investment Management and Capital Research.

As a result of the placement, Mesoblast’s free float has increased by approximately 16.5 per cent, which may positively impact the Company’s weighting within the S&P/ASX 200 index.

In determining Mesoblast’s free float under S&P/ASX methodology, strategic shareholdings of Mesoblast alliance partner Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and Mesoblast Chief Executive Silviu Itescu, both of which remain unchanged post the placement, are not included.

The intended uses of these funds are for continued development of Mesoblast’s proprietary Mesenchymal Precursor Cell (MPCs) technology platform, specifically:
• a Phase 3 clinical trial using MPCs for treatment of degenerative disease of the lumbar spine
• new Phase 2 clinical trials to broaden the indications for intravenous delivery of MPCs in the treatment of systemic inflammatory conditions
• optimization of MPC manufacturing processes and increased product inventory
• staff and overheads.

Professor Itescu said: “Our strengthened financial position ensures that we can drive our independent programs to commercial outcomes, particularly in the areas of degenerative disease of the lumbar spine and in the treatment of inflammatory and immune-mediated conditions.”