Three Firms Aid SPAC Tie-up for Cardio-Focused Biopharma Company

Covington & Burling is representing NewAmsterdam Pharma Holding B.V., a Netherlands-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on oral therapies for cardio-metabolic diseases, on its go-public merger with a special purpose acquisition company.

Goodwin Procter is counseling the SPAC, Frazier Lifesciences Acquisition Corporation, which is sponsored by an affiliate of Seattle-based private equity firm Frazier Healthcare Partners, according to a statement.

NewAmsterdam Pharma says its lead therapeutic candidate, obicetrapib, could potentially serve 30 million patients worldwide who have cardiovascular disease.

After the merger’s expected second-half closing, the new holding company NewAmsterdam Pharma Company N.V., is expected to be listed on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbol “NAMS.”

NewAmsterdam Pharma is expected to reap around $235 million from an oversubscribed private investment in public equity at $10 per share, co-led by Frazier Healthcare Partners and Bain Capital Life Sciences, and including other investors. Kirkland & Ellis is advising placement agents in the PIPE.

NewAmsterdam said it expects the merger to give it enough funds to operate through 2026. In all, including the SPAC’s trust account, the transaction would bring the company’s total cash balance to at least $470 million. That’s on top of its total enterprise value of $326 million, the statement said.

Covington said partners Jack Bodner, Brian K. Rosenzweig, and Kerry Burke led its team for the deal.