SYGNIS AG has announced the completion of the acquisition of TGR Biosciences (TGR), the Australian research reagents company.

TGR and its highly complementary technologies and products along with its strong customer base will significantly contribute to the overall performance of the SYGNIS Group. SYGNIS is currently assessing the impact the acquisition will have on its previous 2018 full year financial guidance and will announce this as soon as this review is complete.

Dr. Heikki Lanckriet, CEO and CSO of SYGNIS, said: “The acquisition of TGR Biosciences with its complementary business portfolio is a perfect fit for SYGNIS and an important step in our ‘Grow, Buy and Build strategy’ – we are very excited about our joint future. Both, TGR Biosciences and the SYGNIS Group will benefit from increasing sales and cross selling synergies, which will further strengthen our market position and provide further opportunities for growth.”

The acquisition, priced in Australian Dollars at approximately EUR 10.1 million (net of cash acquired with the business) comprising cash, loan notes and a share based earn out, brings TGR into the SYGNIS Group. The acquisition was financed by the recent capital increase, where SYGNIS raised gross proceeds of EUR 4.2 million in a private placement with institutional investors. Additionally, SYGNIS obtained a debt finance in the amount of EUR 2 million to complete the acquisition. SYGNIS has the right to exchange the debt finance into a mandatory convertible bond with additional option rights for approximately 1.4 million shares. The volume of the convertible bond and the conversion price will depend upon market conditions at the time SYGNIS utilizes such right if SYGNIS decides so which is likely.

TGR offers a strong complementary product portfolio including patented best-in-class protein capturing technology, fitting with SYGNIS’ range of products and services to support the immunology, genomic and proteomic markets. TGR’s technology and R&D facilities will be fully integrated into the SYGNIS group, and trade under the Expedeon brand in the near future.