Merus N.V. Announces Proposed Public Offering of Common Shares

Rhea-AI Summary

Merus N.V. (Nasdaq: MRUS) has announced a proposed underwritten public offering of up to $60 million of its common shares, with an additional $9 million option for underwriters. The offering is subject to market conditions and aims to support the clinical development of its innovative multispecific antibodies, along with preclinical research and working capital needs. Jefferies LLC and SVB Leerink LLC are the joint book-running managers. The shares will be offered under a shelf registration statement filed with the SEC.

Positive

• Proceeds from the offering will advance clinical development and preclinical research.
• Potential to secure additional funds of $9 million through underwriters' option.

Negative

• Dilution risk for existing shareholders due to the issuance of new common shares.

UTRECHT, The Netherlands and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Merus N.V. (Nasdaq: MRUS) (“Merus”, “we” and “our”), a clinical-stage oncology company developing innovative, full-length multispecific antibodies (Biclonics^® and Triclonics™), today announced the launch of a proposed underwritten public offering of up to $60 million of its common shares. All of the common shares are being offered by Merus. In addition, Merus expects to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional $9 million of its common shares. The offering is subject to market conditions and other closing conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed, or as to the actual size or terms of the offering.

Merus intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to advance the clinical development of its product candidates, for preclinical research and technology development, and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

Jefferies LLC and SVB Leerink LLC are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering.

The offering will be made pursuant to a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 that was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on August 20, 2019 as a registration statement on Form F-3 and amended by a post-effective amendment to Form F-3 on Form S-3 filed on April 30, 2020, which was declared effective by the SEC on May 5, 2020. The offering will be made only by means of a written prospectus and prospectus supplement that form a part of the registration statement, which, for the avoidance of doubt, will not constitute a “prospectus” for the purposes of (i) the Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (the “Prospectus Regulation”) and has not been reviewed by any competent authority in any member state in the European Economic Area and (ii) the Prospectus Regulation as it forms part of domestic law in the United Kingdom by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (the “UK Prospectus Regulation”) and has not been reviewed by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom. A preliminary prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus related to the offering will be filed with the SEC and will be available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Copies of the preliminary prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus relating to the offering may be obtained, when available, from Jefferies LLC, Attention: Equity Syndicate Prospectus Department, 520 Madison Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10022, or by telephone at (877) 821-7388, or by e-mail at Prospectus_Department@Jefferies.com or SVB Leerink LLC, Attention: Syndicate Department, One Federal Street, 37^th Floor, Boston, Massachusetts 02110, by telephone at 1-800-808-7525, ext. 6132, or by email at syndicate@svbleerink.com.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy these securities nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

This press release is an advertisement and not a prospectus within the meaning of either the Prospectus Regulation or the UK Prospectus Regulation.

European Economic Area (EEA):

In relation to each member state of the EEA (each, a “Relevant State”), no shares of the Company have been offered or will be offered pursuant to the offering to the public in that Relevant State prior to the publication of a prospectus in relation to the Company’s shares which has been approved by the competent authority in that Relevant State or, where appropriate, approved in another Relevant State and notified to the competent authority in that Relevant State, all in accordance with the Prospectus Regulation, except that offers of the Company’s shares may be made to the public in that Relevant State at any time under the following exemptions under the Prospectus Regulation:

• to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined under Article 2 of the Prospectus Regulation;
• to fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined under Article 2 of the Prospectus Regulation), subject to obtaining the prior consent of the joint bookrunners; and
• in any other circumstances falling within Article 1(4) of the Prospectus Regulation,
  

provided that no such offer of the Company’s shares shall require us or any of our representatives to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Regulation or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 23 of the Prospectus Regulation and each person who initially acquires any shares or to whom any offer is made will be deemed to have represented, acknowledged and agreed to and with each of the representatives and us that it is a “qualified investor” as defined in the Prospectus Regulation.

For the purposes of the above, the expression an “offer of shares to the public” in relation to any shares in any Relevant State means the communication in any form and by means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and the shares to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase shares.

United Kingdom:

In addition, in the United Kingdom, the transaction to which this press release relates will only be available to, and will be engaged in only with persons who are (a) “qualified investors” (as defined in the UK Prospectus Regulation) (i) who have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the Order), and/or (ii) who are high net worth entities falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order or (b) persons to whom it may otherwise be lawfully communicated (all such persons under (a) and (b) together being referred to as “relevant persons”). The securities referred to herein are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire such securities will be engaged in only with relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this communication or any of its contents.

About Merus N.V.

Merus is a clinical-stage oncology company developing innovative full-length human bispecific and trispecific antibody therapeutics, referred to as Multiclonics^®. Multiclonics^® are manufactured using industry standard processes and have been observed in preclinical and clinical studies to have several of the same features of conventional human monoclonal antibodies, such as long half-life and low immunogenicity.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including without limitation, statements regarding the completion, timing and size of the proposed offering, expectations with respect to granting the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase additional common shares and our intended use of any net proceeds from the offering. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the following: our need for additional funding, which may not be available and which may require us to restrict our operations or require us to relinquish rights to our technologies or Biclonics^®, Triclonics™ and multispecific antibody candidates; potential delays in regulatory approval, which would impact our ability to commercialize our product candidates and affect our ability to generate revenue; the lengthy and expensive process of clinical drug development, which has an uncertain outcome; the unpredictable nature of our early stage development efforts for marketable drugs; potential delays in enrollment of patients, which could affect the receipt of necessary regulatory approvals; our reliance on third parties to conduct our clinical trials and the potential for those third parties to not perform satisfactorily; impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic; we may not identify suitable Biclonics^® or bispecific antibody candidates under our collaborations or our collaborators may fail to perform adequately under our collaborations; our reliance on third parties to manufacture our product candidates, which may delay, prevent or impair our development and commercialization efforts; protection of our proprietary technology; our patents may be found invalid, unenforceable, circumvented by competitors and our patent applications may be found not to comply with the rules and regulations of patentability; we may fail to prevail in potential lawsuits for infringement of third-party intellectual property; and our registered or unregistered trademarks or trade names may be challenged, infringed, circumvented or declared generic or determined to be infringing on other marks.

These and other important factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2020 filed with the SEC on November 5, 2020, in the preliminary prospectus supplement related to the offering, and in our other reports filed with the SEC, could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent management’s estimates as of the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change, except as required under applicable law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

FAQ

What is the purpose of Merus N.V.'s proposed offering on January 19, 2021?

Merus N.V. plans to use the proceeds to advance clinical development of its product candidates, conduct preclinical research, and for general corporate purposes.

How much is Merus N.V. looking to raise in its public offering?

Merus N.V. aims to raise up to $60 million, with an additional option for underwriters to purchase up to $9 million of common shares.

Who are the underwriters for Merus N.V.'s public offering?

Jefferies LLC and SVB Leerink LLC are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering.

What are the potential risks associated with Merus N.V.'s offering?

The offering may lead to dilution for existing shareholders and there are no guarantees regarding completion, timing, or terms of the offering.

When was the registration statement for Merus N.V.'s offering filed?

The registration statement for the offering was filed with the SEC on August 20, 2019, and declared effective on May 5, 2020.