James Gubbins

May 29, 2020, Covington Alert

The UK Government has released the full details of its Future Fund scheme, including the application process, together with the template convertible loan agreement. The Future Fund, the headline terms of which were announced on 20 April 2020 (see our Alert of 22 April), launched on 20 May 2020 and will initially be open until the end of September 2020. The ...

May 27, 2020, Covington Alert

The UK Government has tabled legislation to assist companies in financial difficulty and to make temporary changes to the law relating to the governance and regulation of companies. The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill1 (the “Bill”), which commenced its passage through the UK Parliament on 20 May 2020, is relevant to public companies as it provides for ...

April 22, 2020, Covington Alert

On 20 April 2020, the UK Government announced the new Future Fund scheme under which the Government will offer funding to innovative UK registered companies facing financial difficulties due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

April 21, 2020, Covington Alert

The Government has announced further information on the measures to be brought forward to assist public companies in meeting their statutory and regulatory obligations to hold annual general meetings (AGMs) during the current season. On 17 April 2020, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) ...

April 14, 2020, Covington Alert

On 8 April, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced further measures to assist companies seeking to raise finance from the capital markets in order to meet the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and position their businesses for recovery. The FCA Statement of Policy sets out guidance on the application and relaxation of certain pre-existing rules, ...

April 3, 2020, Covington Alert

On 28 March, 2020, the UK Government announced that it intends to amend insolvency law to give companies breathing space and allow them to keep trading while they explore options for rescue. The changes include (a) a temporary suspension of wrongful trading by directors of UK companies for three months commencing on 1 March, 2020 and (b) the introduction of a ...

April 3, 2020, Covington Alert

COVID-19 has created many challenges for both public companies and a range of regulators tasked with ensuring market functionality and integrity. In the past few weeks, Government, regulators and advisory bodies relevant to the capital markets have moved to act quickly where they can to announce new measures or provide guidance aimed to address areas of ...

April 3, 2020, Covington Alert

At a time when many companies have been forced to close their offices and have almost all of their employees working remotely, the standard procedures for the execution of documents and addressing signing and closing matters have come under pressure. Below are some practical issues that can arise in the signing and closing of deals which are subject to English ...

August 23, 2018

LONDON—Covington has advised Ziylo on its acquisition by Novo Nordisk with a potential deal value that could exceed $800 million. Ziylo, a University of Bristol spin-out company based at the Unit DX science incubator, is a supramolecular chemistry company that has developed a third 'biomimetic' class of glucose binding molecules. The acquisition gives Novo ...

March 8, 2018, Biotech and Money

James Gubbins, Lucinda Osborne, and Brian Kelly are quoted in a Biotech and Money article providing an overview of Covington's Life Sciences practice and discussing the legal implications of issues facing the sector. “Having an international practice, having a team in London, on [the U.S.] East Coast and West Coast, and in Asia, who encompass that regulatory ...

December 21, 2017

LONDON—Covington represented Autifony Therapeutics Limited in connection with an option and asset purchase agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim (BI), with respect to Autifony's Kv3.1/3.2 positive modulator platform. This agreement provides BI with an exclusive option to acquire Autifony’s Kv3.1/3.2 positive modulator platform, including Autifony's lead compound ...

May 13, 2015

LONDON, May 13, 2015 — Covington has advised AIM-listed Horizon Discovery Group plc on a £40.1 million accelerated bookbuild placing announced on May 1, 2015.  The financing is being undertaken to raise £25 million in new money for the company through a primary offering and £15.1 million for certain shareholders through a sale of their existing shares. The ...

February 27, 2015

LONDON, February 27, 2015 — Covington advised Heptares Therapeutics Limited on its announced sale to Sosei Group, a Tokyo-listed Japanese biopharmaceutical company with operations in Japan and the UK. Consideration consisted of $180 million cash at closing and up to an additional $220 million contingent upon the successful progression of Heptares’ pipeline and ...

October 10, 2014

LONDON, 10 October, 2014 — Covington & Burling is advising Consort Medical plc on the acquisition of Aesica Holdco Limited and its operating subsidiaries from private equity fund Silverfleet Capital and its management shareholders for a total consideration of approximately £230 million. Covington is also advising Consort Medical plc on the £98.9 million Rights ...

August 7, 2014

LONDON, 7 August, 2014 — Covington advised Ergomed plc, an international clinical research business, on its flotation on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, an associated fundraising and its simultaneous acquisition of PrimeVigilance Limited, a leading provider of pharmacovigilance and medical information services. Ergomed ‘s market capitalisation on ...

May 1, 2014

LONDON, 1 May, 2014 — Covington & Burling advised Lombard Medical, Inc. on its $55 million U.S. initial public offering and the listing of the company’s ordinary shares on the NASDAQ Global Market. Covington also advised the company on its change of domicile from the U.K. to the Cayman Islands and the delisting of its shares from the AIM market of the London ...

July 31, 2012

LONDON, 31 July, 2012 — Covington & Burling advised Cell Medica Limited on its £17 million equity investment to launch new operations in Texas focusing on cancer immunotherapy and to continue development of its immune reconstitution cell therapies in Europe. The financing includes new investment from Invesco Perpetual, Imperial Innovations, and The Cancer ...

January 31, 2012, Responsible Investment Summit

2010, BioTrinity