OptiBiotix Health PLC (AIM:OPTI) said its ProBiotix Health PLC (AQSE:PBX) business has been admitted to the AQSE Growth Market valued at £25.5mln and after raising £2.5mln of additional capital.
The spin-off is being done to exploit the “multiple opportunities” identified by management.
The focus of the ProBiotix operation is human microbiome-modulating compounds that tackle cardiovascular disease and other lifestyle conditions using the LP-LDL good bacteria strain.
A study has shown that LP-LDL, which is generally recognised as safe by a panel of US experts, has the ability to reduce bad cholesterol by more than a third.
Since launching LP-LDL in May 2017, the company has signed over 38 commercial agreements.
"OptiBiotix has been really pleased with the development of its ProBiotix Health business and now believes that the scale of the opportunities offered by LPLDL, particularly in dairy and pharma which require specialist skill sets, may best be realised by a separate listing,” said OptiBiotix chief executive Stephen O’Hara.
“The separate listing and fundraise allows ProBiotix to accelerate commercial progress and grow direct to consumer product sales, and expand into key markets like dairy and pharma.
“The admission to AQSE materialises the value of ProBiotix as a valuable asset to OptiBiotix shareholders who benefit from a dividend in species and the potential for substantial future value enhancement of a subsidiary."
OptiBiotix shareholders on the register on 25 March will receive just over half (0.554673) a ProBiotix share for every OptiBiotix share they currently own as part of an ‘in specie’ distribution.