(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong Covid-19 testing laboratory Prenetics Ltd. has agreed to merge with billionaire Adrian Cheng’s U.S.-listed blank-check company Artisan Acquisition Corp.
Prenetics has an enterprise value of $1.25 billion in the deal to take it public, according to a statement Thursday. The special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, is also raising $120 million to support the transaction. Investors in the private investment in public equity, or PIPE, include Aspex, PAG, Lippo, Dragonstone and Xen Capital, among others.
The transaction is estimated to be completed in the fourth quarter this year or the first quarter of 2022, according to the statement. The combined company is expected to trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol PRE.
Backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Ping An Insurance Group Co., Prenetics was founded as a genetics and DNA testing company but pivoted to Covid-19 testing when the pandemic began last year. The firm has completed over 4 million Covid-19 tests, and provides testing to soccer clubs in the English Premier League, according to its website.
Artisan raised $339 million in an initial public offering in May. The SPAC’s sponsor, Artisan LLC, was founded by New World Development Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Cheng, a billionaire and scion of one of Hong Kong’s wealthiest families.
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