UK pharmaceuticals business Redx today became the latest firm to unveil plans to delist from the London stock market after the firm bemoaned the low price its shares were trading at.
The Cheshire-based company, which develops treatments for fibrotic disease and cancer, said it would seek shareholder approval to quit the AIM market and re-register as a private company, adding its listed status meant that it was “liquidity constrained”.
Redx chair Dr Jane Griffiths said: “We believe our current market valuation is not reflective of our track record or future potential and is not conducive to raising the level of capital required for our growing clinical portfolio.
“As a private company we can access a broader universe of specialty investors and, accordingly, a larger quantum of future funding required to execute our strategy and maximise our value in the interests of all oursShareholders.
“Although we are delisting from AIM, we continue to believe that the UK is an excellent hub for scientific discovery and drug development and remain committed to being part of the UK life sciences community retaining our facility based at Alderley Park."
Redx shares fell by more than 50% following the announcement. It is the second pharma company to quit the public markets in the past two weeks after Manchester-based C4X revealed similar plans.
C4X CEO Dr Clive Dix told the Standard last week: “Everywhere I look the private companies are more valuable than the public ones.
“There are lots of funds out there that work in the private sector that like our story and therefore we believe that in the private sector we can grow the business better.”
