Bico is waking up from its coma in spurts. As of this writing, we are seeing the all-time highest one-day share price surge.
So Sartorius is buying a 10% stake in Bico, and these are new shares that dilute ownership. Paradoxically, this share issue caused a growth spurt in the stock price. It is a mystery to me, at least, why there is such a sharp price reaction. Could it be market over-exuberance? At least the company will gain substantial cash reserves as a result of this issue, so the pursuit of growth can continue, and perhaps the previously planned downsizing measures will be unnecessary in the coming year? Time will tell.
The Board of Directors of BICO Group AB (publ) (“BICO” or the “Company”) has exercised the authorization granted by the Annual General Meeting to issue up to 6,408,626 class B shares (“New Shares”) in full, equivalent to ten percent (10%) of outstanding shares in the company
Possibly the price reaction could be explained by the Asian market opening up in a completely different way than before. I don’t know Sartorius at all, so it’s hard to assess the impact, but if the price reaction is anything to go by, this could have a tangible positive impact on future revenue.
In conjunction with the Share Issue, BICO and Sartorius have agreed on a comprehensive technology as well as sales and marketing cooperation. As part of the partnership, both companies will enter into a research & development collaboration relating to 3D cell printing and associated technologies as well as digital solutions for cell line development workflows. Additionally, it was agreed that Sartorius will become a distributor of BICO products in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.