Shearman & Sterling is representing UBS Securities LLC, Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and China International Capital Corporation Hong Kong Securities Limited, who are acting as placement agents on the PIPE in connection with Prenetics Group Limited (Prenetics)’s business combination with Artisan Acquisition Corp. (Artisan). Prenetics, a global leader in genomic and diagnostic testing, has entered into a definitive merger agreement with Artisan, a publicly listed special purpose acquisition company privately founded by cultural entrepreneur Adrian Cheng, in a transaction valuing Prenetics at an enterprise value of $1.25 billion with a combined equity value of approximately $1.7 billion.
Prenetics is expected to receive proceeds of up to $459 million in cash, including the contribution of up to $339 million of cash currently held in Artisan's trust account and a fully committed PIPE and forward purchase agreements of $120 million. The proceeds will be used for strategic acquisitions, R&D, product roll out and geographic expansion into the United States, EMEA and Southeast Asia. Subject to satisfaction of closing conditions, the business combination is expected to complete in the fourth quarter of 2021 or the first quarter of 2022.
The Shearman & Sterling team was led by partner Kyungwon (Won) Lee, counsel Leo Wong and senior legal assistant Derek Perriam (all Hong Kong-Capital Markets).