XON: Kirk Steps Down; New CEO, New Name/Symbol
Jan 2, 2020 19:44:59 GMT
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Post by icemandios on Jan 2, 2020 19:44:59 GMT
Biotech billionaire spends $88M to reorganize his long-suffering bioengineering businesses, hands off CEO role
Biotech billionaire Randal Kirk is looking for a fresh start with the new year.
He has whipped up the latest — and most comprehensive — in a series of reorganizations for his multiple bioengineering ventures at Intrexon, taking a long-delayed step to the executive chairman’s role, renaming the company and promoting a top exec to the CEO’s role.
And he’s funding the company with a sales deal and investment agreement with his venture fund, Third Security.
For Intrexon, the deal marks the latest step in a series of moves Kirk has made since setting out to carve a big role for himself in the emerging synthetic biology field. Deals followed in a roster of fields, including the legal weed business. After going public in 2013, the market cap soared to $2.5 billion, offering Kirk another windfall fortune as investors bought into the vision. But performance never lived up to the promise. Shares opened today just above the $5 mark.
Kirk’s original fortune came from the sale of New River to Shire.
Kirk spells out his new moves in a lengthy release:
Intrexon will be renamed Precigen — the title of his early-stage immuno-oncology sub — and the stock will stop trading as $XON and shift to $PGEN. Precigen will hold a variety of healthcare assets: Precigen, ActoBio, Exemplar Genetics as well as the majority-owned Triple-Gene.
Helen Sabzevari, the Compass and Merck KGaA vet who’s been running Precigen, now takes the helm of the larger entity, while Kirk steps up to executive chairman. That completes a move he had planned about 3 years ago, but delayed after Geno Germano exited following a brief spell at the top.
Then Third Security will hand over $88 million — including $35 million for Intrexon stock — in exchange for these: Ag Biotech Division (AgBio), Intrexon Laboratories Hungary (ILH), Intrexon Produce Holdings, Inc. (owner of Okanagan Specialty Fruits), Intrexon UK Holdings, Inc. (owner of Oxitec, Ltd.), Intrexon’s nominal equity interests in Oragenics and Surterra, and the internet domain name DNA.com.
John Carroll
EDITOR & FOUNDER
