Catalist-listed Aoxin Q&M Dental Group will acquire 49% interest in medical diagnostics company Acumen Diagnostics for $29.4 mil, according to a joint announcement by the company and Mainboard-listed Q&M Dental Group.

Acumen is a subsidiary of Q&M, which holds a 51% stake in the company.

Aoxin is acquiring the stake in Acumen from its shareholders Acumen Holdings and Dr Ong Siew Hwa, Acumen's CEO and chief scientist. Upon completion of the transaction, Aoxin will hold 49% of Acumen Diagnostics, while Q&M will retain the remaining 51%.

Q&M, which owns a 32.95% stake in <a href="https://www.theedgesingapore.com/tags/aoxin-qm"  target="_blank">Aoxin Q&M</a>, will have effective ownership of 67.15% in Acumen post-transaction.

According to Aoxin and Q&M, the preliminary valuation of Acumen amounts to $60 million. This takes into account the earnings and growth prospects of its business, following the completion of a restructuring exercise involving Acumen Research Laboratories is $60 million.

<hr/><i><strong>See: <a href="https://www.theedgesingapore.com/capital/brokers-calls/keep-smiling-things-are-looking-good-qm-dental"  target="_blank">Keep on smiling as things are looking good for Q&M Dental</a></strong></i><hr/>

The purchase consideration will be satisfied by way of the allotment and issuance of new ordinary shares in the capital of Aoxin at an issue price of 23.1 cents per share.

Aoxin and Q&M state that the acquisition and integration of Acumen's diagnostics business into Aoxin is "timely and strategic", allowing Aoxin to enter the medical diagnostics business in Singapore and capture a significant portion of the testing capacity market in conducting frequent and widespread testing, in support of Singapore’s national Covid-19 strategy.

Acumen will continue to operate independently post-acquisition, helmed by Dr Ong. In the near term, Acumen will roll out in its clinical testing laboratory a pipeline of new tests, including PCR assays for dengue, sepsis and, identification of bacterial pathogens and their associated antibiotics resistance in pneumonia and bloodstream infections. Its longer-term plans include the development of vaccines.

Shares in Aoxin and Q&M closed at 21 cents and 55.5 cents respectively on Oct 1.

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