Avista Public Acquisition II filed a preliminary proxy on its proposed purchase of OmniAb, an antibody discovery business that would be spun off from Ligand Pharmaceuticals.
If approved, upon closing the SPAC’s sponsor Avista Capital Partners and a private equity firm focused on the healthcare industry have agreed to invest up to $115 million in the combined company, and Ligand will contribute $15 million.
The combined company will have an initial pre-money equity valuation of $850 million. Prior to the transaction close, Ligand intends to distribute 100% of its ownership of OmniAb to Ligand shareholders in a tax-free distribution.
The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2022.
Ligand’s OmniAb antibody discovery platform provides pharmaceutical industry partners with access to diverse antibody repertoires and high-throughput screening technologies to enable discovery of next-generation therapeutics.
The combination of OmniAb and AHPA is structured to guarantee a minimum of $130 million in gross cash to the combined company at closing, and up to $266 million in the event of no redemptions by APAC shareholders. Read more.
