Private party goes public at First Pharma
Sometimes all it takes is a backdoor listing to get the band back together.
Sometimes all it takes is a backdoor listing to get the band back together.
Private-equity backed First Pharma is finalising a $5 million capital raising to reverse into ASX-listed shell Navigator Resources, sources said.
Bell Potter Securities is managing the raise.
Once this is done, the register will be a crowded group of well-known private equity names with close links to Ironbridge Capital.
As first reported by this column, Ironbridge Capital founders Paul Evans and Greg Ruddock have been back on the scene building up new pharmaceuticals play, First Pharma, just as one of their previous success stories, iNova, is getting shopped around Goldman Sachs on behalf of US-listed Valeant Pharmaceuticals.
Navigator, which has less than a $1 million cash on its balance sheet and a $3 million market capitalisation, has Ironbridge principal Neil Broekhuizen and operational partner Josh McKean as major shareholders.
Navigator also has Eclipx Group boss and former FlexiGroup executive Doc Klotz on its register.
Ironbridge-backed Eclipx, formerly known as FleetPartners, listed in April 2015 at $2.30 a share, with the private equity manager selling down its stake over 18 months.
Eclipx shares last traded at $3.83.
But as the Ironbridge guys work up their next deal, the real question is whether the private equity group might look to raise a new fund like rivals Adamantem Capital and Odyssey Private Equity.
