All Blue Capital in $773 million bid for Zymeworks

div classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodivpBy Anirban Senp

pReuters Investment firm All Blue Capital has approached Zymeworks Inc, a developer of antibody therapies for cancer, with a 773 million acquisition offer. pdivdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodiv

pIn a regulatory filing late on Thursday, All Blue said it had made a nonbinding offer for 10.50 per share in cash, which represents a 116 premium to Wednesdays closing price of 4.86. p

pThere is no certainty that Zymeworks, which carries roughly 65 million of debt, will negotiate a deal, people familiar with the matter said. The company unsuccessfully engaged with potential buyers last year, the sources added, requesting anonymity. p

p“Received an unsolicited, nonbinding proposal from All Blue Falcons FZE and its affiliates to purchase the company for 10.50 per share in cash,” Zymeworks said in a statement, adding that its board of directors will carefully review the proposal.p

pShares of Zymeworks jumped by more than 45 in aftermarket trade on Thursday after Reuters reported the bid. p

pIn the filing, All Blue said it is currently in talks with potential coinvestors and financing partners for the proposed acquisition. p

pVancouver, Canadabased Zymeworks develops antibody treatments for different types of cancer and is currently working on clinical trials for a number of its products. It has repeatedly missed earnings estimates over the past few quarters and its shares have lost about 84 of their market value over the past 12 months.p

p“We believe that the company has suffered from severe value erosion due to a number of serious missteps by an unfocused leadership with no clear strategy for improving performance,” All Blue said in a letter to the companys board of directors on Thursday. p

p“We believe that Zymeworks stockholders deserve better than the consistent value destruction they have suffered during this relatively short period of time,” they added.p

pIn January, Zymeworks recently appointed Chief Executive Kenneth Galbraith announced that the company would need to immediately raise capital to continue operations and that it would lay off 25 of its workforce.p

pAll Blue Capital is a technologyfocused investment firm, whose investments include Airbnb, SpaceX, Lyft and Pinterest. All Blue currently holds a small stake in Zymeworks. p

p Reporting by Anirban Sen and Rhea Binoy in Bengaluru Editing by Greg Roumeliotis, Marguerita Choy, Sandra Maler and Sherry JacobPhillipsp

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