SBI Islamic Fund II (Brunei) Limited divests its interest in Sengenics Corporation Pte. Ltd. to Summa Equity AB

SBI Islamic Fund II (Brunei) Limited ( “SBIFII”) is announcing the divestment of its equity interest of 12.93% in Sengenics Corporation Pte. Ltd. (“Sengenics”) to Summa Equity AB, the Nordic focused, purpose driven private equity firm, that invests in companies addressing global challenges.

The transaction was completed on 23 September 2020, for an undisclosed amount. SBIF II invested into Sengenics in November 2016 joining earlier institutional investors, Insas Technology Berhad and Hanns Ventures Pte. Ltd.

Over the period of SBIF II’s investment, Sengenics has evolved from offering clinical services towards leveraging its patented KREX protein folding technology for autoantibody biomarker discovery for the identification of disease-associated biomarkers for early diagnosis and drug response prediction.

Since its incorporation in 2008, the company has been able to strike commercial deals with some of the world’s top pharmaceutical companies, world-class universities and leading research institutions. Sengenics currently has commercial partnerships with 9 out of the top 10 pharma to co-develop complementary and companion diagnostic tests for autoimmune and cancer immunotherapy drugs.  

Commenting on the transaction, Mr. Yoshihiro Ishiwata, Interim CEO of SBI (B) Sdn Bhd, said: “We are privileged to have been a part of Sengenics’ journey over the past four years. We are confident that the new set of investors and board members will continue to grow the company towards the successes it deserves.”

Dr. Arif Anwar, CEO of Sengenics Corporation Pte. Ltd., said: “SBI has been a strategic investor and has played a significant role in the company’s growth plans, leading us to the current phase that we have accomplished with the team. We are grateful for the support and guidance provided by SBI over the years and we look forward to a new journey with Summa Equity AB as we move towards global expansion.”

About SBI Islamic Fund II (Brunei) Limited

SBI Islamic Fund II (Brunei) Limited is a shariah compliant private equity fund managed by SBI (B) Sdn Bhd, a joint-venture fund management company established by Tokyo listed SBI Holdings, Inc., (8473:T) and the Strategic Development Capital Fund (“SDC”) of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, Brunei Darussalam. The Islamic Development Bank, Jeddah joined force with SBI Holdings, Inc and SDC for the fund as Limited Partners with a mandate to invest into diverse range of late stage companies across the Asia Pacific region.

https://sbib.com.bn

About SBI Holdings, Inc. (8473:T)

The SBI Group was established in 1999 as a pioneer of Internet-based financial services in Japan. Since then, the SBI Group has formed the world's first Internet-based financial conglomerate, providing financial services in a broad range of fields including securities, banking and insurance. In addition, the SBI Group provides Asset Management Business, with a prime focus on investment in venture companies - an activity undertaken since before the Group's founding. In this sphere, the SBI Group has made focused investments in the IT and biotechnology sectors, which are the 21st century growth industries. Currently, the development of new technologies is accelerating within the FinTech, IoT, AI, Big Data and related fields, thus attracting global attention. The SBI Group is proactively investing in venture companies within these fields.

www.sbigroup.co.jp/english/

 

About Sengenics Corporation Pte Limited

Sengenics Corporation Pte Limited is a Functional Proteomics company that leverages its patented KREX technology to discover autoantibody biomarker signatures for prediction of drug response and severe immune-related adverse events (irAEs). KREX can also be used to identify autoantibody biomarkers that may be used to diagnose cancer, autoimmune, neurodegenerative or infectious diseases with higher sensitivity and specificity than conventional diagnostic tests. Some autoantibodies that are identified as diagnostic biomarkers may be protective and have potential in themselves as therapeutic biomolecules. For more information, visit

www.sengenics.com

About Summa Equity

Summa Equity is a thematic investment company with Nordic focus with more than EUR 1.4 billion under management. Founded in 2016, Summa Equity invests in companies within Resource Efficiency, Changing Demographics and Tech-enabled Businesses. Summa Equity is amongst the first Private Equity firms to commit to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and its investments are aligned with these.

www.summaequity.com

 

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SBI Islamic Fund II (Brunei) Limited

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