The deal will see Aspire buy up 333,333 common stock shares in International Stem Cell at a price of $1.50 each, which represents a premium of 7 percent over the closing stock price of $1.40 last Friday, December 13.
The deal gives Aspire no rights to the company’s sales and does not restrict it to search out financing from other sources in the future. Likewise, it will also be able to control the sale
The sale of the stocks will give the company funds of up to $25m in equity stock over the course of the next 3 years, which will help it to achieve ambitious plans to corner the market for anti-aging skin care products that incorporate stem cell technology.
Lifeline Skin care
In October International Stem Cell announced a joint venture to launch a line of skin care products based on technology that has reproduced embryonic stem cells.
The skin care line is the result of a joint marketing venture with industry expert John Maudlin, and the new line has been developed by Lifeline Skin Care, a subsidiary of International Stem Cell.
The new line has been in development for well over a year and involves a technologically advanced formulation for skin rejuvenation crèmes, developed using ‘parthenogenetic’ stem cells, developed without the use of fertilized embryos by Lifeline Skin Care.
Funding for research and development
Speaking about the deal, Ray Wood, International Stem Cell CFO said: “It provides us with access to capital that we believe will be adequate to fund our research activities for an extended period of time, but does not preclude us from pursuing additional financing during the term of the agreement.”
Wood went on to explain that the terms of the funding have been designed to give the company the flexibility to draw on the financing when it is needed, in turn helping to minimize the costs associated with the facility.
The Lifeline skin care line was rolled out in the US market last month and includes two basic products: a defensive Day Moisture Serum and a Recovery Night Moisture Serum, which will be distributed at select retail outlets in the US as well as online.