Tetra Bio-Pharma financing a “sea-change” for the company, Paradigm Capital says

A new financing for Tetra Bio-Pharma (Tetra Bio-Pharma Stock Quote, Chart: TSXV:TBP) has Paradigm Capital analyst Rahul Sarugaser maintaining his bullish stance on the stock.

On November 30, TBP announced the closing of a $17.4-million private placement that resulted from the company issuing Aphria 6.9-million common shares at a price of $1.03, attached to a full warrant ($1.29/share, expiring Nov. 2021), for gross proceeds of $7.1-million. In addition to that transaction, Tetra Bio-Pharma founders sold Aphria 10-million shares at $1.03 per share, for proceeds of $10.3-million. The result is that APHA now owns 19.9 per cent of TBP.

“Aphria has been a major strategic partner since the inception of Tetra,” CEO Dr. Guy Chamberland said. “Their decision to substantially increase their holding in our company illustrates their confidence in our business model, which is focused on taking a pharmaceutical pathway to the commercialization of cannabis and cannabinoid-derived products. The Aphria investment will enable Tetra to increase drug development activities, including in the USA, over the coming months. As for the sale of my shares to Aphria, this divestiture was done to accommodate Aphria and for personal tax and estate planning purposes following the sale of PhytoPain Pharma Inc. earlier this year. I continue to be one of the company’s major shareholders, and I am fully committed to executing Tetra’s business plan.”

“This deal represents a sea change for TBP. Alignment with APHA, a company led by the former head of Jamieson Labs, Vic Neufeld—no stranger to stringent quality assurance and compliance—reiterates TBP’s excellence in clinical and regulatory execution. We applaud the transaction and anticipate numerous TBP catalysts in the coming months.”

In a research update to clients Tuesday, Sarugaser maintained his “Buy” rating and one-year price target of $1.75 on Tetra Bio-Pharma, implying a return of 68 per cent at the time of publication.”