Oxford Nanopore raises £195m ahead of London listing
Oxford Nanopore has raised £195m in fresh funding ahead of its planned IPO in London later this year, it said this morning.
The company has helped to track coronavirus mutations in the past year, which has made it somewhat of a darling of UK genetics work.
The Oxfordshire-based scale-up said £125m of investment came from new investors Temasek, Wellington Management, M&G Management and Nikon, with existing investors contributing £70m.
IP Group, which holds a 14.5 per cent undiluted stake in the company, said the recent round brings Oxford Nanopore’s valuation to £359m.
Oxford Nanopore is expected to list in London in the second half of this year in a boost for the Government, which has been trying to woo Britain’s life sciences and technology companies to list in the capital.
In December Boris Johnson reportedly met with leading tech bosses considering a London float, including Oxford Nanopore, in a bid to convince them to list in the City.
The company announced it was preparing for a float at the end of March but has disclosed no further details since. Reuters recently reported it had hired banks to manage the process.