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| Bioscience hothouse will manage £1/4bn |
| Written by Business Weekly | |
| Wednesday, 14 April 1999 | |
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Founder Chris Evans knew what he was doing when he conjured his venture capital business and christened it Merlin.
Founder Chris Evans knew what he was doing when he conjured his venture capital business and christened it Merlin. In less than three years, the latter-day Welsh wizard has sprinkled a considerable amount of magic dust over the whole UK bioscience sector - and Cambridge is about to become a significant beneficiary under the Merlin spell. When Dr Evans began raising finance in earnest for the bioscience industry to fill a clear funding gap there were those in the City who told him to 'stick to the science. Those critics are now thin on the ground as London-based Merlin Ventures opens a Cambridge office at the world-renowned Science Park and prepares to reel in some £1/4bn of investment capital that will soon be under management in its new, international biosciences fund. This massive injection of funds into a sector supposed to be under the investor microscope is a tremendous coup for the Merlin Ventures team and is being achieved through Merlin's decision to join with Rothschild Bioscience Unit (RBU) to create the world's largest dedicated bioscience investment management group - Merlin Bioscience. Key individuals of the RBU team, led by Jeremy Curnock Cook, will be joining the Merlin Ventures group to form Merlin Bioscience. Subject to regulatory approval and final negotiation, Merlin Bioscience will be appointed manager of the International Biotechnology Trust plc (IBT). Largest Merlin Biosciences will become the largest dedicated bioscience development capital group in the world with a broad range of venture capital and investment management capabilities. It will have a multidisciplinary team of over 20 full time professionals and life science specialists and will offer a wealth of seasoned operational management experience and scientific excellence. This, together with an extensive network of consultants and strategic advisers, will give Merlin Bioscience a unique competitive advantage in deal identification, financing and investment management. Merlin Bioscience will operate worldwide developing on its existing fields of experience in Europe, North America and Australasia. Merlin will add IBT to its existing role as adviser to the Merlin Fund and also Reabourne Merlin Life Science Investment Trust plc, giving it investments in over 50 companies. It is also intended that Merlin Bioscience will assume responsibility for the Australian Bioscience Trust and the proposed Canadian Bioscience Trust, giving it a total of approximately £150m under management in the initial phase. Opportunities Merlin is already seeking new opportunities for investment in Europe and has announced its intention to raise a second Merlin fund - the Merlin Healthcare Fund - of up to £100m, to invest primarily in later-stage European bioscience opportunities. Dr Evans estimates that in the not-too-distant future the expanded Merlin Bioscience venture will command total funds of up to £1/4bn. He said: 'The potential for Cambridge is enormous. This is one of the best places in the world to be for developing bioscience businesses. Through this new venture, we are bringing a hotbed of ideas to Cambridge as well as a lot of money. There are some meaty and exciting times ahead. Dr Evans, awarded the OBE for his services to life sciences, will be chairman of the new business with Jeremy Curnock Cook - founder of RBU - taking the position of Chief Executive Officer. Peter Keen will retain his position as Managing Director with responsibility for the operational management of Merlin Bioscience's European activities, and Mark Clement - formerly FD at Celsis in Cambridge - will become Executive Director. Dr Evans said: 'With the skill set and experience we now have in place I'm confident we have the ability to create shareholder value from the IBT portfolio and from the global bioscience sector. It is our firm belief that Merlin Bioscience's critical mass and hands-on approach will be key to creating and securing this value. We have a very exciting future ahead of us. Experience Jeremy Curnock Cook agrees. He said: 'The two teams complement each other extremely well. The RBU team has considerable experience internationally and Merlin Ventures holds a unique position in the UK. We have both independently identified opportunities in Europe and the creation of Merlin Bioscience will allow us to pursue these together, with an approach and expertise that few others will be able to match. Merlin Ventures was founded by Dr Evans in 1996 to develop scientific innovation in bioscience, arising from the UK science base. Led by Dr Evans and Peter Keen - founder and former FD of Chiroscience Group plc - Merlin has assembled a team of specialists experienced in identifying, developing and commercialising leading-edge technology. Merlin Ventures acts as adviser to a dedicated £39m fund - the Merlin Fund - which invests in UK seed stage bioscience companies, and through an authorised subsidiary advises the £30m Reabourne Merlin Life Sciences Investment Trust plc on unquoted UK bioscience investments. To date Merlin Ventures has established 10 companies - Cyclacel, Microscience, KinderTec, Vectura, Eurogene, ReNeuron, PanTherix and three others yet to be announced. In total these companies have more than 150 employees, over 60 patents granted or applied for and more than 40 products in the pipeline. The Rothschild Bioscience Unit was set up in 1981 within Rothschild Asset Management as an international investment advisory team led by Jeremy Curnock Cook, who is an executive director of Rothschild Asset Management and has over 25 years' experience of managing and investing in healthcare technology companies worldwide. RBU has an international and multi-disciplinary staff with backgrounds in science, industry, finance and operational management. It is manager to the £57m International Biotechnology Trust, the A$43m Australian Bioscience Trust and the proposed C$40m Canadian Bioscience Trust. |
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