Cellectis prepares listing of Calyxt, could be worth EUR 500m
Cellectis, the listed, French genome engineering specialist, is understood to be preparing the listing of its subsidiary Calyxt, an agricultural biotech company focused on developing crops, French daily L’Agefi reported. The report cited analysts at French broker Portzamparc as saying that the unit could be valued at EUR 500m, although another expert noted that the valuation of Calyxt was difficult to calculate because of the lack of disclosed figures.
The analysts added that Calyxt could also decide to welcome VC investors prior to an IPO.
The report noted that Cellectis has a market capitalisation of EUR 790m and recent rumours named Pfizer, which already owns a 10% of Cellectis, as a potential buyer for the company.
Portzamparc went on to say that Calyxt is specialised in the development a novel generation of crops that are not considered GMOs (genetically modified organisms), meaning that the development costs amount to an average USD 6m, compared with USD 200m for a GMO, with an approval procedure lasting four to six years, compared with 10-15 years for GMOs.