Irish biopharma company Amarin has agreed to sell $30 million (€28.1 million) of bonds, which can be switched into equity, to cover the cost of buying back shorter-term debt and boost its cash resources.
A unit of Amarin will sell the bonds, due for repayment in 30 years’ time, to unnamed investors.
Some $15 million of the amount raised from the deal will be used to buy back debt that was issued in 2012, with the remainder earmarked for “general corporate and working capital purposes”.
The new notes will be exchangeable into American depositary shares of Amarin at the option of the investors, at an initial exchange price of $3.89 per share. They are currently changing hands in the market at below $3 a share.
In a trading update issued by the company on January 8th, Amarin said it expected heart drug Vascepa, its first product approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to have posted a 50 per cent surge in net product revenue to exceed €125 million last year. Vascepa reduces harmful blood fats – called triglycerides – in people at risk of heart disease.
The company ended the year with about $98 million in cash and $20 million in net accounts receivable. It is forecasting net profit revenue of between $155 million and $165 million for the current year.
