APx Acquisition Corp. I (APXI) Signs LOI with DNA Test Firm
APx Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:APXI) announced a letter of intent to combine with an unnamed biotech firm, but teased little other information as it heads into an extension vote on Friday.
Shareholders at the meeting are to decide whether to give APx the ability to extend its transaction deadline to a maximum of December 9, 2024 in exchange for monthly contributions of the lesser of $125,000 or $0.025 per share monthly.
The SPAC has given shareholders little more to chew on concerning the LOI, noting just that it is a “a precision medicine company that offers genomic diagnostic tests in clinical genomics, oncology, human microbiome and reproductive genomics”.
As something of a hint, the Bioceres Group (NASDAQ:BIOX) is mentioned in the presser’s headline and company contacts are provided at the bottom, indicating this could be a deal with one of its affiliates.
Argentina-based Bioceres primarily produces bio-engineered crop seeds and went public in a combination with Union in 2019. Kyle Bransfield served as CEO of Union in the deal and was recently appointed to the top job at APx after sale of sponsor shares saw a team transition in September.
Bioceres also spun off its vegan meat alternative wing Moolec Science (NASDAQ:MLEC) in a combination with LightJump in 2022.
APx’s target, meanwhile, also has “a digital nutrition-based DNA and gut microbiome wellness service” and is focused on the Spanish-speaking population. It takes patient samples of blood, tissue, saliva and microbiome samples and provides them with nutritional insights and health advice.
This is a business model that has been explored a number of times before, but it has not yet proven to scale consistently. Blackstone (NYSE:BX) threw its weight behind the idea with its $4.7 billion acquisition of Ancestry.com in 2020, but a follow-on SPAC deal for 23andMe (NASDAQ:ME) did not raise the torch higher.
23andMe was a first-mover and category-creator in this space but it has lost momentum since its 2021 combination with VG and last closed at $0.86. It has largely transitioned to licensing its DNA database to GSK (NYSE:GSK) for biomedical research, but has seen dropping revenues and logged a net loss of -$75 million in its its last reported quarter.
Since there is no guarantee that this LOI will make it to the definitive agreement stage, ShoulderUp Technology will stay in SPACInsider’s searching column for now.