Zaoui Brothers Take U.K. Drugmaker Startup Public via SPAC
(Bloomberg) -- BenevolentAI, a U.K. startup that uses artificial intelligence to develop drugs, is going public at a 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion) valuation via a SPAC from investment banker brothers Michael and Yoel Zaoui.Â
BenevolentAI will combine with Odyssey Acquisition SA, a 300 million-euro blank check company that the Zaoui brothers listed on Euronext Amsterdam in July, according to a statement on Monday.Â
The deal is backed by existing shareholder Temasek, along with investors including AstraZeneca Plc, Ally Bridge Group and Invus.Â
Read More: Zaoui Brothers join Europe's SPAC rush with Odyssey listing
BenevolentAI was valued at $2 billion in 2018 after an investment from Woodford Investment Management Ltd., run by fund manager Neil Woodford. A year later, BenevolentAI lost half its value after Woodford struggled with valuations of his own fund.Â
Blank-check firms listings have cooled off in the U.S., but Europe's much smaller market SPAC is ticking on. While SPACs usually have 18 months to two years to find an acquisition target, things have been moving much quicker in Europe.Â
Lakestar SPAC I SE, which listed in Frankfurt in February, agreed in July to buy vacation home platform HomeToGo in a 1.2 billion-euro ($1.4 billion) deal. Italy's Revo SpAwent public in May and two months later struck a deal for insurer Elba Assicurazioni SpA.
About $7.6 billion has been raised by 32 SPACs across European exchanges this year, compared with over $150 billion in the U.S., according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Olivier Brandicourt, the former CEO of Sanofi, and Jean Raby, former CEO of Natixis Investment Managers, will join the BenevolentAI board after the deal is completed. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. advised BenevolentAI, while JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Zaoui & Co. advised Odyssey.
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
-
Unhedged Position | Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
-
Navigating Energy Crossroads: S Jaishankar's Call For Diversified Supply Chains At G20 Ministerial Meeting
As geopolitical fault lines continue to test maritime trade routes and commodity flows, Jaishankar's message remains pertinent: true economic resilience requires open markets, protected transit lines, and a genuine commitment to multilateral cooperation rather than coercion.
-
Indians Are Travelling, But Not Every Journey Is A Holiday | The Week In Whys
Pilgrims, patients and working women are the real travellers, and the system hasn't quite caught up with them.
-
Getting To Work Costs Women More | The Reason Why
It is not just about women paying more than men. It is about women paying much more in cities than in villages.
-
AI Bias In Investing Cannot Be Eliminated, But It Can Be Governed
Framing is a particularly important example as identical financial information presented in terms of gains rather than losses can lead an LLM to reach a different assessment.
-
Joining The Dots | Dark Skies, Steady Diya: Why Hope Holds This Diwali
With war, a weak rupee and foreign outflows weighing on sentiment, policymakers at the NDTV World Summit and market veterans at NDTV Profit Ignite: Diwali Edition offered the same advice: stay invested and filter out the noise.
-
The Curious Case of Equitas Small Finance Bank And A CEO Who Quit For Stock
PN Vasudevan believes persistent investor concerns over a perceived conflict of interest had become a governance overhang on Equitas Small Finance Bank's stock, even as the lender improved profitability and asset quality.
