|
Control over another Halifax biotech company has passed intoEuropean hands. Medmira Inc. announced Thursday that Andurja Beteiligungen AG,which is headquartered in Lucerne, Switzerland, had bought $6million of its common shares and warrants. The investment pushes Andurja"s stake in MedMira to nearly 59per cent from 40 per cent. If all the warrants are exercised, Andurja"s holdings wouldtop 68 per cent. "We believe this level of investment will enable the companyto further its plan to achieve success and shareholdervalue," Andurja chairman Urs Meile said in a news release. Shares in Medmira, which develops and manufactures technology andtests that provide hospitals, labs and clinics with quick diseasediagnosis, were trading on the TSX Venture Exchange at around fourcents Thursday afternoon. The company"s chief financial officer Daniel Frid called theinvestment "a validation in their belief in ourcompany." He said the cash infusion was welcomed. "We"ve had our share of challenges in the past fewyears," he said in an interview. "This is a good stepforward in stabilizing our financial situation." The company lost $1.3 million in the last reporting quarter, whichended on Jan. 1. Andurja, the controlling and majority shareholder ofMedMira"s strategic business partner, Vitest, invested $5.5million between 2009 and January 2012. Frid said those smaller investments helped MedMira in the shortterm. The new $6-million investment, on the other hand, "allows thecompany to take a longer-term view and gives us moreoptions." Some of the proceeds will be used to retire some of MedMira"sbank debt, which stood at about $17 million in its most recentfinancial statements. The funds will also be used to get MedMira"s marketingmachine going so that it can develop new products in other highgrowth markets like the defence sector, Frid said. In April, MedMira announced that its most advanced rapid HIV testhad been approved by the United States Agency for InternationalDevelopment for inclusion on its list of approved rapid HIV tests. That was a major development for MedMira. Since its inception, theagency has invested more than $7 billion to fight AIDS and HIV inthe world"s developing regions. Being approved by the agencymeans programs funded by the American organization can use theagency"s cash to buy MedMira"s Reveal HIV tests. Frid said that Andurja will want to ensure that its investment is"well used" but MedMira doesn"t expect the Swissfirm to take a hands on interest in the company"s day-to-dayaffairs. Last month Royal DSM, one of the world"s biggest andbest-known life-sciences companies announced it was buying OceanNutrition Canada Ltd. of Dartmouth for $540 million. ( jdemont@herald.ca ). We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Feed Mixing Machine Manufacturer , Hammer Mill Machine for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Biomass Pellets Machine.
Related Articles -
Feed Mixing Machine Manufacturer, Hammer Mill Machine,
|
