HealthBeacon, the embattled Irish medtech, has attracted parties interested in making an investment in the company or buying it out as it races to raise cash in order to survive, according to sources.
HealthBeacon, which raised €25 million in an initial public offering almost two years ago in a deal that put a market value of almost €100 million on the business, moved last Friday to have its shares suspended as its financial situation worsened.Its market value had collapsed to just €1.18 million by then, with most of the damage occurring after HealthBeacon issued a sales warning in late September and announced that chief executive Jim Joyce was stepping down.
HealthBeacon, the last company to float on the Irish stock market, warned before the weekend that it only had enough cash to keep trading until the last week of this month – adding that its “short-term working capital position has deteriorated” since it stated on October 5th that it had €500,000 of net cash, sufficient to keep it running until mid-to-late November.