Progyny, a US-based fertility benefits platform backed by pharmaceutical firms GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Merck Group, went public on Friday in a $130m initial public offering.
The company issued 6.7 million of new shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market priced at $13 each while existing backers including Merck sold a combined 3.3 million shares. It had originally set a range of $14 to $16 and its shares rose to close at $15.94 on the first day of trading giving it a market cap of more than $1.3bn.
Founded in 2015 through the merger of reproductive health technology producers Auxogyn and Fertility Authority, Progyny offers fertility-related health benefits to some 1.4 million employees across more than 80 corporations.
The company’s services include access to a dedicated specialist who guides prospective parents through the clinical process and provides emotional support, as well as an integrated pharmacy, Progyny Rx, that carries fertility treatment medication.
Progyny most recently raised $31m in a late 2017 series B round featuring SR One, the corporate venture capital subsidiary of GSK, as well as TPG Biotech, Evo Eagle, Grove Venture Partners, Mellon Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), which has since evolved into Kleiner Perkins.
The round consisted of multiple tranches beginning with a $14.7m first close in 2016 backed by SR One, TPG Biotech and KPCB, before SR One returned in May 2017 for a $10m extension co-led by TPG Biotech and KPCB.
Auxogyn had raised approximately $80m in equity and debt financing pre-merger from investors including SR One and M Ventures, a corporate venturing subsidiary of Merck Group, and KPCB.
Merck sold nearly 374,000 shares in the offering for almost $4.9m and its stake was reduced from 6.4% to 5.5%, while SR One’s share was diluted from 13.9% to 12.8%.
Progyny chief executive David Schlanger sold approximately 660,000 shares and retains a 4.3% stake. The company’s largest shareholders remain TPG Biotech (25% post-IPO) and KPCB (23.5%).
JP Morgan Securities, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Securities are joint book-running managers for the offering while Piper Jaffray, SVB Leerink and TPG Capital are co-managers. They have the 30-day option to acquire up to 1.5 million additional shares which would boost the size of IPO to almost $150m.
Photo courtesy of Progyny, Inc.
