Medicxi announces the closing of its first €200 million Secondary Fund, led by Pantheon with co-lead LGT Capital Partners

LONDON, GENEVA and ST HELIER, Jersey, Sept. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Medicxi, the leading European life sciences investment firm, announces the closing of Medicxi Secondary 1 (MS1) in connection with the completion of an "Exit & Reinvest" type of structured secondary transaction, which is unprecedented in the biotechnology industry.

The interests in six clinical and preclinical stage companies held by Index Ventures Life VI, a dedicated life sciences fund advised by Medicxi, were acquired by a newly formed fund managed by Medicxi, called MS1. The new fund has been anchored by leading secondary investor, Pantheon (London), with LGT Capital Partners (Pfaeffikon, Switzerland) as co-lead investor. The portfolio was acquired by MS1 at a premium to its net asset value. MS1 has committed to invest in each of the six portfolio companies the funding required to accelerate their clinical development plans through to the next stages of value creation. The investors in Index Ventures Life VI received proceeds from the sale of the portfolio to MS1 and were also offered the opportunity to re-invest their proceeds into MS1. Medicxi is excited by the potential of the acquired portfolio as well as the high level of conviction shown by both the reinvesting Index Ventures Life VI investors and the investors that are new to the portfolio.

Francesco De Rubertis, co-founder and Partner at Medicxi, commented: "We are happy with the strong interest that these world leading investors have shown towards  both the portfolio and the transaction model, which has been used in the private equity industry, but unprecedented in clinical stage biotechnology. We believe this Exit and Reinvest type of transaction ("E&R") can be the blueprint for future investments by investors interested in obtaining exposure to biotechnology, but who are concerned by the long cycles of value creation in the asset class. In the future, this E&R approach will enable monetization of the value created in the first steps of drug development, while simultaneously creating the optionality of retaining the future upside of late stage drug development."

Matt Jones, MD Pantheon, commented: "Given the reputation and track record of the Medicxi team, we were delighted to lead this innovative transaction. At Pantheon, our focus is on backing top tier managers globally and this transaction will enable us to benefit from the tremendous potential the biotechnology industry offers."

Campbell Luytens acted as financial advisor and Travers Smith acted as principal legal advisor to Medicxi on the secondary transaction.

For further information, please contact:

Medicxi
Giovanni Pericolini
giovanni.pericolini@medicxi.com

Optimum Strategic Communications
Mary Clark/ Shabnam Bashir
+44 (0) 20 8148 3040
medicxi@optimumcomms.com

Pantheon
Amanda McCrystal
+44 (0)20 3356 1718
Amanda.mccrystal@pantheon.com

LGT Capital Partners
Franziska Raff
+41 55 415 9391
Franziska.raff@lgt.com

About Medicxi

Medicxi is a European venture capital firm with the mission to create and invest in companies along the full drug development continuum. Medicxi was established by the former Index Ventures life sciences team, which has been active for over 20 years, and invests in both early and late-stage assets with a product vision that can fulfil a clear unmet need. GSK, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc., Novartis and Verily (an Alphabet company) have invested in Medicxi funds. 

For more information, please visit us at www.medicxi.com and follow us on Twitter (@medicxi).

About Pantheon

Pantheon Group* ("Pantheon") is a leading global private equity, infrastructure, real assets and debt fund investor that currently invests on behalf of over 650 investors, including public and private pension plans, insurance companies, endowments and foundations. Founded in 1982, Pantheon has developed an established reputation in primary, co-investment and secondary private asset solutions across all stages and geographies. Our investment solutions include customized separate account programs, regional primary fund programs, secondaries, co-investment, infrastructure and real assets programs.  Pantheon has four decades' experience of investing in private markets.

As at 31st March 2020 Pantheon had $50.7 billion assets under management^[1] and the firm currently has around 340 employees located across its offices in London, San Francisco, New York, Hong Kong, Seoul^[2], Bogotá^[3], Tokyo and Dublin. Its global workforce includes 100 investment professionals^[4].

Pantheon is majority-owned by Affiliated Managers Group Inc. ("AMG"), alongside senior members of the Pantheon team. AMG is a NYSE-listed global asset management company with equity investments in leading boutique investment management firms. The ownership structure, with Pantheon management owning a meaningful share of the equity in the business, provides a framework for long-term succession and enables Pantheon management to continue to direct the firm's day-to-day operations.

About LGT Capital Partners LGT Capital Partners is a leading alternative investment specialist with USD 60 billion in assets under management and more than 550 institutional clients in 39 countries. An international team of over 500 professionals is responsible for managing a wide range of investment programs focusing on private markets, liquid alternatives and multi-asset class solutions. Headquartered in Pfaeffikon (SZ), Switzerland, the firm has offices in New York, Dublin, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Vaduz, Dubai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Sydney.

[1] This figure includes assets subject to discretionary or non-discretionary management, advice or those limited to a reporting function. Data is unaudited.

[2] A Korean subsidiary of Pantheon Ventures (US) LP ("PV US") has opened the office in Seoul.

[3] The Bogotá office is a representative office of Pantheon Ventures (US) LP ("PV US")

[4] This includes members of our Investment Structuring and Strategy Team.