Bioceres, which sells biologic agrochemicals and develops seed productivity traits in Argentina, officially withdrew its plans for an initial public offering on Friday following its merger with a publicly-traded blank check company.
Bioceres had originally set terms for an IPO in February 2018 that would have raised $130 million at a market cap of $497 million, but postponed the deal; it later announced in November 2018 that it would be acquired by SPAC Union Acquisition. The merger was completed on Thursday, and the new company, Bioceres Crop Solutions, began trading on the NYSE on Friday under the symbol BIOX.
Another crop traits developer, Cibus (CBUS), postponed a US IPO in February that would have raised $100 million at a market cap of $350 million.
The Rosario, Argentina-based company was founded in 2001 and booked $163 million in sales for the 12 months ended December 31, 2017. It had filed to IPO on the NYSE under the symbol BIOX (view profile from withdrawn deal). Jefferies, Piper Jaffray, Santander and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey were set to be the joint bookrunners on the deal.
