GESSEL Attorney at law advised Polski Bank Komórek Macierzystych S.A. in the acquisition of a majority stake in Stemlab

The GESSEL law firm advised Polski Bank Komórek Macierzystych S.A. in the transaction involving the purchase of a majority stake of the Portuguese company Stemlab – the largest stem cell bank on the Iberian Peninsula and one of the largest in Europe.

The contract with Stemlab shareholders was signed on July 12, 2018 and relates to the acquisition of 95.6% of the company’s shares (88% of shares from the Riverside Company private equity fund and 7.6% of the minority shareholders – the company’s founders and management). Under the agreement, PBKM will have the option to repurchase the remaining stake of Stemlab (4.4%) held by a member of the Board of Directors, acting as the managing director (CEO) of Stemlab, Mr. Andre Gomes (0.01% of the shares will belong to yet one Italian minority shareholder).

Polski Bank Komórek Macierzystych S.A. is the largest stem cell bank in Poland that leads the international FamiCord Group managing stem cell banks located in Europe and Turkey. The main area of ​​activity of PBKM is the acquisition, processing and long-term storage of stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood and other post-natal tissues at the request of parents (family banking). The Group also invests in the development of services in the field of production of advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMP), considered one of the most important directions of medical development. Since May 2016, PBKM has been listed on the main market of the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Stemlab deals with the acquisition, processing and storage of stem cells and the development of advanced products related to cell therapy. The Stemlab Group operates in Portugal, Spain and (through business partners) in Italy. It has about 7% participation in acquiring new umbilical cord blood samples on the European market. At the end of last year Stemlab stored approx. 98 thousand samples of umbilical cord blood or tissues and about 120,000 all types of biological materials. The company also conducts research in the field of advanced therapy medicinal products (it is the holder of several patents in this field). In 2017, Stemlab had 6.1 million euro consolidated revenue and 1.5 million euro cash EBITDA.

The Firm’s consultancy was of a comprehensive character and included work on transaction documentation and consultancy during the implementation of the investment. In charge of this project was Maciej Kożuchowski, partner, attorney at law and Bartłomiej Woźniak, advocate, senior associate, with the support of trainee attorney Marcin Kasprzyk.