Applied Nutrition said it would be floating on the London Stock Exchange main market at some point in the course of Q4. The Liverpool company makes health supplements for athletes and the gym serious.
The company recently provided investors with some results, which included a 42% increase in sales. It numbers JD Sports among its investors. It looks well-positioned to benefit from an increasing trend towards healthier living and the widespread gym culture, which is going global.
Among Applied Nutrition’s strengths are its international retail distribution network. Partners take on most of the heavy lifting when it comes to marketing its products in their respective markets. This also helps to keep a lid on operational expenditures. This is reflected in adjusted EBITDA margins – the company said EBITDA was up 40% in its latest set of numbers.
The float is being valued at around GBP 500mn and investors are going to be interested in this one, as numbers indicate that Applied Nutrition’s sales numbers are also taking off: sales were up 73% in the previous financial year.
Applied Nutrition has recently appointed Andy Bell, founder of AJ Bell, as chairman of its board.
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Zenas BioPharma raises USD 225 million for MS drug development
Zenas BioPharma successfully listed in the US via an IPO that raised USD 225mn. The company develops immunology-based therapies and is backed by Bristol-Myers Squibb. The offering was priced at 13.2m shares for USD 17 each. The midpoint of the targeted range was between USD 16-18.
Zenas BioPharma does not currently have any products available for commercial sale. Its lead drug candidate is obexelimab, which is used to treat immunology and inflammation diseases. Among the diseases targeted are multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosus.
Zenas said that proceeds from the IPO would be used to advance the further clinical development of obexelimab, including preparing the drug for launch in both the US and Europe. Zenas listed on NASDAQ (Global Select Market) on Friday with the ticker ZBIO.
It was a good day for US drugs IPOs, with MBX Biosciences, which we have written about previously, also going live.
Can China’s BingEx break trend with NASDAQ listing?
A Chinese courier delivery company called BingEx is filing to IPO in the US. The number of Chinese companies that have chosen to list in the US has dropped over the last few years, partly due to geopolitical fears, but also because of higher interest rates. BingEx said it was looking at listing ADS shares on the NASDAQ.
BingEx is considered among the leading on-demand courier services in China. Revenue was reported at CNY 4.45bn (USD648mn) in 2023, up from CNY 4bn the previous year. BingEx reported a profit of CNY110.5mn in 2023, significantly up from the loss it made of CNY180mn in 2022.
BingEx operates in 295 Chinese cities and has 88.9m registered customers, along with 2.7m registered riders. It is estimated to control 33.9% of the total independent on-demand courier service in the country.
Chinese companies have faced pressure from both US and Chinese authorities. Notably the ride-hailing company Didi Global was forced by Chinese authorities to de-list in the US in 2021, which served as as signal for other Chinese CEOs.
