Source: MIL-OSI Submissions
Aroa Biosurgery to list on the ASX in $225m IPO
At listing Aroa’s Founder and CEO Brian Ward will have an 11% shareholding
Auckland-based soft tissue regeneration company Aroa Biosurgery Limited (Aroa) is set to list on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) as part of an initial public offering (IPO) that will see it raise $45m from investors.
The offer will comprise of A$30 million of primary capital through the issue of 40 million new shares at $0.75, with the remaining A$15 million to form part of a sell down by existing shareholders in the company. The IPO values Aroa at A$225 million upon listing, with the company expected to commence trading on 30 July 2020 under ASX code ARX.
Aroa is focused on improving the rate and quality of healing in complex wounds and soft tissue reconstruction. From more than 10 years of research and development Aroa has developed Endoform®, a proprietary soft tissue regeneration technology platform.
Endoform® is derived from ovine (sheep) forestomach and includes a basement membrane layer and propria-submucosa (supportive connective tissue). It acts as a scaffold to grow new tissue lost or damaged through disease or injury, allowing the patient’s own cells to grow into the matrix to build new tissue and re-establish blood supply. As the patient continues to heal this is replaced by their own tissue.
The company lists on the ASX having achieved product revenue of NZ$22.0 million in FY2020 (March year-end) and NZ$18.7 million in gross profit. The company was also EBITDA positive during this period¹.
Aroa has five commercial products approved for sale in the US based on the Endoform® technology which have been used in more than four million procedures targeting chronic wounds, hernia, soft tissue and breast reconstruction. This is in addition to a new product development pipeline, with all products engineered for the challenges of a specific use case.
Aroa’s products are typically 20%-60% less expensive than competing biological products, while offering superior regenerative performance, and in many cases are only at a small price premium over synthetic products.
Its success in market comes off the back of validation from peer reviewed publications as well as past and ongoing clinical studies. Aroa has regulatory clearance in more than 37 countries and a deep patent portfolio.
The total addressable market for its current products exceeds US$1.5 billion² in the US, with an additional pipeline of new products to be commercialised with an estimated more than US$1.0 billion².
The company plans to grow its sales within its principal market of the United States as well as in other markets such as Canada, Europe and select Asian countries where it has made early inroads. To date it has achieved sales with more than 600 hospitals in the US as well as being on contract with major group purchasing organisations and surgical distributors.
Funds from the IPO will be used to invest in sales and marketing, increase manufacturing capacity to meet anticipated demand and facilitate product development, cover operating costs and repayment of borrowings.
Aroa boasts 140 employees across its headquarters in Auckland and its USA-based Appulse office, a sales-focused joint venture.
“Since founding Aroa in 2008 we’ve developed the Endoform® platform technology to deliver clinically effective products and a strong pipeline which places the business in an ideal position for continued growth across the US and other global markets,” said Aroa Founder and CEO Brian Ward.
“We have a proprietary technology that is scalable and efficient, targeting significant addressable markets. I’m excited to share the growth in value of the business with both new and current investors as part of this IPO as well as with the committed board, management and staff behind the company.”
Bell Potter Securities and Wilsons are Joint Lead Managers to the IPO.
¹ Positive EBITDA based on proforma financials
² SmartTRAKBiomedGPS data 2020, DRG Millennium Research data, Hernia Repair Devices, 2020, Aroa management estimates, DRG Millennium Research, Breast Implants & Reconstructive devices, 2018. Market data was prepared before the onset of COVID-19, the economic effect of which is currently not possible to predict with any certainty. Consequently, while the Company has no reason to believe that the market data does not remain accurate based on the relevant markets operating normally, the impact of COVID-19 on the market data that is referenced is not possible to currently predict with any certainty and investors are cautioned against placing undue reliance on such data.
About Aroa Biosurgery:
Aroa headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand is a private, venture-funded soft-tissue repair company that develops and manufactures medical products to improve healing in complex wounds and soft tissue reconstruction. Its products are developed from their Endoform® platform, a novel extracellular matrix biomaterial and distributed in the United States by Appulse and Tela Bio. Aroa strives to improve patient outcomes and provide better healing, every day, everywhere for everybody.
