Feb 12, 2019 06:00 am
PALO ALTO, Calif. --
Hercules
Capital, Inc. (NYSE: HTGC) (“Hercules” or the “Company”), the
largest and leading specialty financing provider to innovative venture
growth stage companies backed by some of the leading U.S. and top tier
venture capital and select private equity firms, today announced some of
the latest achievements for the following select portfolio companies.
“It’s truly wonderful to see so many of our portfolio companies
executing and achieving value-creating milestones. I was also delighted
to see the number of portfolio companies which have filed registration
statements in preparation for their potential IPO debuts, a level we
have not seen in quite some time,” said Manuel A. Henriquez, chairman
and chief executive officer of Hercules. “The ongoing success and
progress achieved by many of our high quality, innovative portfolio
companies reinforce their continued access to various forms of growth
capital, which highlights their momentum and demonstrates the many
benefits in selecting and working with a capital partner that has scale
and a balance sheet as a source of strength.”
Henriquez added, “We enter 2019 with an optimistic outlook, as many of
our portfolio companies are expecting to pursue and ideally complete
exits through a combination of IPOs and M&As, as evidenced by our seven
companies in registration. These milestone achievements are even more
impressive when you consider the current volatile market environment and
increasing uncertainty about a potential US economic slowdown.”
Hercules Portfolio Company Achievements
Recently Completed New Financings
-
BridgeBio Pharma LLC, a biopharmaceutical company that finds,
develops and delivers breakthrough medicines for genetic diseases,
raised $299.2 million to advance its genetic disease pipeline, which
includes more than a dozen assets in preclinical and clinical
development. KKR and Viking Global Investors led the round along with
Sequoia Capital and existing investors including Perceptive Advisors,
AIG, Aisling Capital, Cormorant Capital and Hercules Capital.
-
Postmates Inc., a market leading logistics company that
operates a network of couriers who deliver goods locally, raised an
additional $100.0 million in equity funding at a $1.85 billion
valuation. The company has garnered a total of $681.0 million in
venture capital funding from investors, including BlackRock, Tiger
Global, Spark Capital, Founders Fund, Uncork Capital and Slow Ventures.
-
Contentful, the leading content infrastructure for digital
teams, raised $33.5 million in Series D equity funding, led by
Sapphire Ventures, with participation from OMERS Ventures, Salesforce
Ventures, and existing investors including General Catalyst,
BenchMark, Balderton Capital and Hercules Capital, bringing the total
funding for Contentful to $78.3 million.
-
Wrike, Inc., the collaborative work management platform for
high-performance teams, signed a definitive agreement to receive a
majority investment by Vista Equity Partners, a leading investment
firm focused on software, data and technology-enabled businesses.
-
OneLogin, Inc., the leader in Unified Access Management, which
delivers simple and secure application access and identity management
to enterprises, closed $100.0 million in growth financing. The
financing was led by new investors Greenspring Associates and Silver
Lake Waterman, as well as existing investors CRV, Scale Venture
Partners and Blue Cloud Ventures.
-
ClearObject, a leading IoT systems integration provider for
asset and data intensive industries, announced that Egis Capital
Partners and ABS Capital Partners have acquired a majority interest in
the company. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.
-
Gynesonics, a women’s healthcare company and the developer of
the Sonata System and other advanced, incision-free solutions for the
treatment of uterine conditions, raised a $75.0 million equity
financing led by Bain Capital Life Sciences, along with existing
investors, including Abingworth, Advanced Technology Ventures,
Endeavour Vision, HealthCrest, InterWest Partners, HBM Partners,
Correlation Ventures and Hercules Capital.
-
Axovant Sciences (NASDAQ: AXON), a clinical-stage gene therapy
company focused on developing a pipeline of innovative product
candidates for debilitating neurological and neuromuscular diseases,
announced pricing of its underwritten public offering of 30 million of
its common shares at a price to the public of $1.00 per share.
FDA Approvals and Clinical Trials
-
Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ: VSTM), a biopharmaceutical company
focused on developing and commercializing medicines to improve the
survival and quality of life of cancer patients, received FDA approval
of COPIKTRA, an oral inhibitor of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K),
and the first approved dual inhibitor of PI3K-delta and PI3K gamma.
COPIKTRA is approved for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed
or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma
after at least two prior therapies.
-
Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRTK), a
biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and
commercialization of innovative therapies based upon its expertise in
novel tetracycline chemistry, received FDA approval of NUZYRA, a
treatment for adults with community-acquired bacterial pneumonia and
acute skin and skin structure infections.
-
AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACRX), a specialty
pharmaceutical company focused on the development and
commercialization of innovative therapies for use in a medically
supervised setting, received FDA approval of DSUVIA, which is
indicated for the management of acute pain in adults that is severe
enough to require an opioid analgesic in certified medically
supervised healthcare settings, such as hospitals, surgical centers,
and emergency departments.
-
Antares Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATRS), a specialty pharmaceutical
company focused on the development and commercialization of
self-administered parenteral pharmaceutical products using advanced
drug delivery auto injection technology, received FDA approval of
XYOSTED, the first FDA approved subcutaneous testosterone enanthate
product for once-weekly, at-home self-administration with an
easy-to-use, single dose, disposable QuickShot auto injector. XYOSTED
is indicated for testosterone replacement therapy in adult males for
conditions associated with a deficiency or absence of endogenous
testosterone.
-
Stealth BioTherapeutics Corp., a clinical-stage
biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutics to treat
mitochondrial dysfunction, was granted Fast Track designation by the
FDA for its lead investigational candidate, elamipretide, for the
treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration with geographic
atrophy.
-
Flowonix Medical, Inc., a medical device company working with
healthcare professionals to help improve patient’s lives through
targeted drug delivery innovation and therapy advancements, received
FDA approval to market the Flowonix Maestro Software for Clinician
Programmers used to program Prometra Pump Systems. The new software is
designed to improve the user experience for both clinicians and
patients.
M&A Activities
-
Art.com Inc., one of the largest online sellers of art and wall
décor globally, has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired
by Walmart (NYSE: WMT), a multinational retail corporation that
operates a chain of hypermarket, discount department stores and
grocery stores. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
-
Labcyte Inc., a global biotechnology tools company developing
acoustic liquid handling, was acquired by Beckman Coulter Life
Sciences, a developer and manufacturer of products that simplify,
automate and innovate complex biomedical testing. Labcyte will
transition into Beckman Coulter Life Sciences under the larger Danaher
Life Sciences platform of companies. Terms of the acquisition were not
disclosed.
IPO Activities
As of February 11, 2019, Hercules held warrant and equity positions in
seven (7) portfolio companies that had filed Registration Statements in
contemplation of a potential IPO, including:
-
Stealth Bio Therapeutics Corp., a clinical-stage
biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutics to treat
mitochondrial dysfunction, filed a public registration with NASDAQ in
contemplation of a potential public offering and plans to list its
shares under the ticker symbol “MITO.”
-
Avedro, Inc., a leading commercial-stage ophthalmic medical
technology company focused on treating corneal ectatic disorders and
improving vision to reduce dependency on eyeglasses or contact lenses,
has filed an S-1 registration statement with the Securities and
Exchange Commission to raise $86.25 million in an IPO of its common
stock. Avedro has developed a proprietary medical device system that
treats corneal ectatic disorders.
-
Lightspeed POS, Inc. (aka Lightspeed Retail), a cloud-based
point-of-sale (POS) software solution used by more than 50,000
retailers and restaurants, has filed a preliminary prospectus with
Canadian regulators and plans to list its shares on the Toronto Stock
Exchange under the ticker symbol “LSPD.”
-
Four (4) portfolio company filed confidentially under the JOBS Act.
There can be no assurances that companies that have yet to complete
their IPOs will do so.
About Hercules Capital, Inc.
Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE: HTGC) (“Hercules”) is the leading and
largest specialty finance company focused on providing senior secured
venture growth loans to high-growth, innovative venture capital-backed
companies in a broad variety of technology, life sciences and
sustainable and renewable technology industries. Since inception
(December 2003), Hercules has committed more than $8.2 billion to over
440 companies and is the lender of choice for entrepreneurs and venture
capital firms seeking growth capital financing. Companies interested in
learning more about financing opportunities should contact [email protected],
or call 650.289.3060.
Hercules’ common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
under the ticker symbol “HTGC.”
In addition, Hercules has six outstanding bond issuances:
Institutional Senior Unsecured Notes PAR $1000.00
Retail Senior Unsecured Notes (“Baby Bonds”) PAR $25.00
-
5.25% Notes due 2025 (NYSE: HCXZ)
-
6.25% Notes due 2033 (NYSE: HCXY)
Convertible Notes
-
4.375% Convertible Notes due 2022
Securitization Notes
-
4.605% Asset-backed Notes due 2027
-
4.703% Asset-backed Notes due 2028
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain “forward-looking statements” within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You
should understand that under Section 27A(b)(2)(B) of the Securities Act
of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E(b)(2)(B) of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, the “safe harbor”
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 do
not apply to forward-looking statements made in periodic reports we file
under the Exchange Act.
The information disclosed in this press release is made as of the date
hereof and reflects Hercules’ most current assessment of its historical
financial performance. Actual financial results filed with the SEC may
differ from those contained herein due to timing delays between the date
of this release and confirmation of final audit results. These
forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and
are subject to uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking
statements including, without limitation, the risks, uncertainties,
including the uncertainties surrounding the current market volatility,
and other factors the Company identifies from time to time in its
filings with the SEC. Although Hercules believes that the assumptions on
which these forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, any of
those assumptions could prove to be inaccurate and, as a result, the
forward-looking statements based on those assumptions also could be
incorrect. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are
made as of the date hereof, and Hercules assumes no obligation to update
the forward-looking statements for subsequent events.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190212005276/en/
Michael Hara
Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
Hercules
Capital, Inc.
650-433-5578
[email protected]