Ocimum Biosolutions Raises Capital from Kubera and Acquires Gene Logic's Genomics Division

Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India

Ocimum Biosolutions (Ocimum) is pleased to announce that it has raised capital from Kubera Cross Border Fund (KUBC) for an equity investment of up to US$17 million (including the pro rata investment by affiliates of Kubera Partners, LLC, The Investment Manager of KUBC). Ocimum Biosolutions also announced that it has successfully closed the acquisition of the genomics division of Gene Logic and will retain the Gene Logic name and continue to service customers from Gaithersburg.

Commenting on the new partnership, Anuradha Acharya, CEO of Ocimum, said, "We were looking for a partner that apart from providing growth capital and acquisition financing has a similar footprint as ours and can understand our business and our global customer service and delivery model. Kubera’s track record and their ability to add value in a cross-border sense uniquely qualifies them to help with businesses such as ours." She further added, “With the acquisition of Gene Logic’s Genomics business, we now offer the largest portfolio of integrated genomic solutions, which further strengthens our unique positioning in this space. We aim to be the number one genomics outsourcing company in the world. We will leverage our global positioning and Gene Logic’s branding and scientific leadership in toxicogenomics, pharmacogenomics and clinical genomics to become a partner of choice for our customers."

Ramanan Raghavendran, Managing Partner at Kubera Partners, LLC said, "We believe genomics outsourcing is at the cusp of significant growth, given the demands on the drug discovery function for labs around the world. Ocimum is well positioned to capture this opportunity because of its leadership in genomics, deep technology knowledge and experience, global delivery capability and above all its world-class scientific talent and management team."

Shiraz Bugwadia, Director at o3 Capital Advisors, added, “Ocimum, with this Series B investment from Kubera Partners is well on path to become a USD 100 million company by 2011 and a world leader in genomics outsourcing."

Ocimum is a life sciences research and development-enabling company, delivering end-to-end genomic products and services from three global locations: Indianapolis (United States), Ijsselstien (Netherlands), and Hyderabad (India). Following the Gene Logic acquisition, the company will also have a significant presence in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The company uses a global business model, with labs in India, Europe and the US. Its presence across the globe allows it to service customers locally while leveraging Ocimum’s global capabilities. The company has won several awards and was the Red Herring 100 Asia winner for 2006, an award conferred on the leading technology companies by Red Herring Magazine.

The company has three main focus areas: BioIT, BioMolecules, and BioResearch. The BioIT division provides reliable and cost-effective software solutions for the biotech industry. The division also offers high-end informatics services including gene identification, algorithm development and database creation and analysis. The BioMolecules division produces oligonucleotides and microarrays, which are used by biotechnology labs for genomics research and experimentation. The BioResearch division provides molecular biology services including gene expression profiling, SNP studies, QPCR, genotyping, DNA extraction and gene synthesis.

Ocimum (www.ocimumbio.com) has had an impressive track record of organic and inorganic growth. The financing has primarily been used by the company to fund its acquisition of the Genomics division of Gene Logic Inc (www.genelogic.com) (NASDAQ: GLGC), which will add significant capabilities to Ocimum’s suite of offerings. The division’s BioExpress and ToxExpress database comprise of a bio-repository of over 80,000 samples and the services business provides data generation and analysis services to large labs around the world. The division is being acquired by Ocimum for a cash consideration of $10 million. Ocimum has in the past successfully integrated MWG Biotech’s (Germany) microarray business and Isogen’s (The Netherlands) Oligonucleotide business.

Kubera Partners, LLC, as the investment manager of KUBC, invests in cross–border companies that are Western headquartered and seek to leverage India and Asia based resources for availability of talent or access to new markets; and companies headquartered in India and Asia that seek to expand in Western markets through acquisition or sales force development. Kubera Partners, LLC is differentiated by the track record of its principals and their complementary experience. Further details on the investment manager can be found at www.kuberapartners.com.

Source: Ocimum BioSolutions (Business Wire India)

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