Fastnet Equity in €37m debut deal

Dublin-based investment firm Fastnet Equity has reached conditional agreement to acquire drug firm Amryt Pharmaceuticals for £29.6m (€37.5m).

The deal qualifies as a reverse takeover and, if concluded, will see the business renamed Amryt Pharma, with a dual listing on Dublin’s ESM and London’s AIM markets.

Fastnet, which last year switched its focus from oil and gas exploration to healthcare /biopharmaceutical investment, will meet the consideration through a share transaction and aims to raise a further £10m via a conditional placing of nearly 41.7m new ordinary shares. Fastnet Equity’s share price was up by over 7% on yesterday’s news.

Amryt was launched last year as a vehicle specialising in the commercialisation of treatments for rare diseases.

Proposed chief executive Joe Wiley said the new deal will be “an important step to realising the company’s vision of building a speciality pharmaceutical company focused on best-in-class treatments for orphan diseases”.

The planned £10m in new funding will go towards accelerating Episalvan, its treatment for a rare skin disorder affecting children.