Evotec, a Germany-listed chemicals company, has agreed to buy Kinaxo Biotechnologies, a local drug discovery company backed by High-Tech Gründerfonds, a €272m ($370m) state-backed fund supported by industrial groups BASF, Deutsche Telekom, Siemens, Robert Bosch, Daimler and Carl Zeiss.
Evotec is paying €3m in cash and 2.6 million of its shares (worth €3.09 each at 11 February), and up to €4m in cash as performance fees. Alex von Frankenberg, managing director of High-Tech, which has first commitments from new investors for its second fund due to be annouced in the autumn, said it made 3.6 times its money on the exit.
Caroline Fichtner, senior investment manager of High-Tech Gründerfonds, said: "We are especially convinced by the synergistic effects of the merger with Evotec, which enables our portfolio company Kinaxo to better play out the strength of its technology platforms. Moreover as the seed investor of Kinaxo we are pleased to return the investment back to our investors with an attractive multiple."
Kinaxo started in 2005 and employs 25 people.