Sema4, a patient-centered healthcare data analytics company, and CM Life Sciences, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), sponsored by affiliates of Casdin Capital and Corvex Management, have entered into a definitive business combination agreement. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2020.
After the merger, CM Life Sciences will be renamed, and its common stock will be listed on the Nasdaq Global Market under a name and a ticker symbol to be announced later.
The transaction is expected to receive proceeds of up to approximately $793 million at the closing of the transaction, up to $343 million of which will be paid to Sema4 stockholders and the remainder of which will be utilized by Sema4 in its business and will continue to operate under the Sema4 management team, led by Eric Schadt, Ph.D., Founder, and CEO.
Sema4’s genomic and clinical data insight platform facilitates the healthcare providers to understand how the disease is diagnosed, treated, and prevented. Sema4’s database includes more than 10 million patient genomic profiles and de-identified clinical records, integrated and delivered in a way that enables physicians to diagnose and manage the disease proactively.
“Eric has built a truly unique business at Sema4 with a combination of scale, growth, and innovation that we rarely see. Revenues are projected to grow from $200 million to $500 million and gross margins to double from today to 2023, while Sema4 leverages its existing platform in women’s health and oncology to quickly grow into high margin relationships and partnerships across health systems and biopharma partners. This transaction affords investors the unique opportunity to benefit from Sema4’s rapid growth, business transformation, and the multiple expansion opportunities that we believe this growth will drive”, said Keith Meister, Chairman of the Board CM Life Sciences.
Advisors: Jefferies LLC is acting as sole financial advisor, lead capital market advisor, and sole placement agent, with Cowen and Company, also acting as a capital markets advisor, and White & Case is serving as legal advisor to CM Life Sciences. Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Securities are serving as financial advisors, and Fenwick & West is serving as legal advisor to Sema4.
Recently, 23andMe, a DNA testing and analytics technology company, and VG Acquisition Corp. (VGAC), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) sponsored by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, announced a definitive merger agreement.
