Transaction Case Studies

Situation Assessment

Asklepios Biopharmaceutical (AskBio) is a privately held, clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel AAV gene-therapies
In addition to assets developed in-house, AskBio maintains equity stakes in multiple external therapeutic and manufacturing subsidiaries, and is a minority equity shareholder in Brain Neurotherapy Bio (BNB), who is developing an AAV gene therapy for Parkinson’s
Ahead of a planned IPO transaction in 2020, AskBio was seeking to simplify their corporate structure and engaged Locust Walk to represent both companies in determining a fair market value to support a proposed all stock merger
Locust Walk developed detailed valuation materials for both companies that not only supported negotiations between AskBio and BNB, but also a subsequent $4B M&A transaction by Bayer

Key Activities

Worked with AskBio’s corporate strategy and BNB’s core executive team to define deal goals to ensure deal success
Developed valuation ranges for each company by conducting thorough diligence and analyzing all relevant therapeutic, manufacturing and other material assets via:
Discounted cash flow/sum-of-the-parts analysis supported by secondary market research and internal cost assumptions
Comparable corporate, therapeutic and manufacturing deals
Comparable public gene therapy companies and IPOs
Informed and provided guidance to AskBio and BNB management teams on relative value ranges that constituted a fair transaction based on Locust Walk’s view

Successful Outcome

Locust Walk aided initial deal discussions and developed standalone company valuations that directly supported primary negotiations of a merger that closed January 2021
Transaction materials informed subsequent negotiations with Bayer and enabled AskBio to progress rapidly towards execution
Deal terms in BNB and Bayer transactions were in line with Locust Walk’s implied valuation ranges