Item 8.01. Other Events.
As previously disclosed in the Current Report on Form 8-K of Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (the "Company") filed on August 8, 2024 (the "Prior 8-K"), the Company entered into a transaction agreement dated August 8, 2024 (the "Transaction Agreement") with Exscientia plc ("Exscientia"). The Transaction Agreement provides that, subject to the terms and conditions set forth therein, including the requisite approval of each of the Company's stockholders and Exscientia's shareholders, the Company will acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Exscientia pursuant to a scheme of arrangement under Part 26 of the United Kingdom Companies Act 2006 (the "Scheme of Arrangement" and such transaction, the "Transaction").
Also as disclosed in the Prior 8-K, concurrent with the execution of the Transaction Agreement, certain shareholders of Exscientia who together hold or control, in the aggregate, approximately 42% of the total outstanding share capital of Exscientia as of the date of the Transaction Agreement have entered into irrevocable undertakings (each an "Irrevocable Undertaking") with the Company pursuant to which each such shareholder agreed to, among other things, and subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the relevant Irrevocable Undertaking, vote (or to procure to have voted on their behalf) all of their shares in Exscientia in favor of all resolutions to approve and give effect to the Scheme of Arrangement and certain related matters.
On August 28, 2024, Evotec SE ("Evotec"), a shareholder of Exscientia that holds or controls approximately 11% of the total outstanding share capital of Exscientia as of the date of the Transaction Agreement, executed a deed of irrevocable undertaking (the "Evotec Irrevocable Undertaking") pursuant to which Evotec agreed to, among other things, and subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Evotec Irrevocable Undertaking, vote (or to procure to have voted on its behalf) all of the shares in Exscientia held by Evotec at the time of the relevant Exscientia shareholder meetings in favor of all resolutions to approve and give effect to the Scheme of Arrangement and certain related matters. Evotec and the shareholders of Exscientia party to the Irrevocable Undertakings entered into on August 8, 2024, collectively, hold or control, in the aggregate, approximately 53% of the total outstanding share capital of Exscientia, as of the date of the Transaction Agreement.
The foregoing description of the Evotec Irrevocable Undertaking does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Evotec Irrevocable Undertaking filed as Exhibit 10.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Additional Information and Where to Find It.
This communication relates to the proposed transaction by and between the Company and Exscientia that will become the subject of a joint proxy statement to be filed by the Company and Exscientia with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). The joint proxy statement will provide full details of the proposed transaction and the attendant benefits and risks, including the terms and conditions of the Scheme of Arrangement and the other information required to be provided to Exscientia's shareholders under the applicable provisions of the United Kingdom Companies Act 2006. This communication is not a substitute for the joint proxy statement or any other document that the Company or Exscientia may file with the SEC or send to their respective security holders in connection with the proposed transaction. Security holders are urged to read the definitive joint proxy statement and all other relevant documents filed with the SEC or sent to the Company's stockholders or Exscientia's shareholders as they become available because they will contain important information about the proposed transaction. All documents, when filed, will be available free of charge at the SEC's website (www.sec.gov). You may also obtain these documents by contacting the Company's Investor Relations department at [email protected]; or by contacting Exscientia's Investor Relations department at
[email protected]. This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any vote or approval.
INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT (WHICH WILL INCLUDE AN EXPLANATORY STATEMENT IN RESPECT OF THE SCHEME OF ARRANGEMENT OF EXSCIENTIA, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE United Kingdom COMPANIES ACT 2006) AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS THAT MAY BE FILED WITH THE SEC, AS WELL AS ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS TO THESE DOCUMENTS, CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY IF AND WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN OR WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION.
Participants in the Solicitation.
The Company, Exscientia and their respective directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in any solicitation of proxies in connection with the proposed transaction.
Information about the Company's directors and executive officers is available in the Company's proxy statement dated April 23, 2024 for its 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Information about Exscientia's directors and executive officers is available in Exscientia's Annual Report on Form 20-F dated March 21, 2024. Other information regarding the participants in the proxy solicitation and a description of their direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be contained in the joint proxy statement and all other relevant materials to be filed with the SEC regarding the proposed transaction when they become available. Investors should read the joint proxy statement carefully when it becomes available before making any voting or investment decisions.
No Offer or Solicitation.
This communication is not intended to and shall not constitute an offer to buy or sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any securities, or a solicitation of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any offer, solicitation or sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offer of securities shall be made in the United States absent registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended ("Securities Act"), or pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, such registration requirements. The Company securities issued in the proposed transaction are anticipated to be issued in reliance upon an available exemption from such registration requirements pursuant to Section 3(a)(10) of the Securities Act.
Forward Looking Statements.
Statements contained herein which are not historical facts may be considered forward-looking statements under federal securities laws and may be identified by words such as "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "potential," "predicts," "projects," "seeks," "should," "will," or words of similar meaning and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the proposed combination of Recursion and Exscientia and the outlook for Recursion's or Exscientia's future businesses and financial performance such as delivering better treatments to patients, faster and at a lower cost; the holdings of Evotec and the voting of shares of Exscientia it holds or controls. Such forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs of Recursion's and Exscientia's respective management as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to them, which are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Actual outcomes and results may vary materially from these forward-looking statements based on a variety of risks and uncertainties including: the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the Transaction Agreement; the inability to obtain Recursion's stockholder approval or Exscientia's shareholder approval or the failure to satisfy other conditions to completion of the proposed combination, including obtaining the sanction of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales to the Scheme of Arrangement, on a timely basis or at all, and the receipt of required regulatory approvals; risks that the proposed combination disrupts each company's current plans and operations; the diversion of the attention of the respective management teams of Recursion and Exscientia from their
respective ongoing business operations; the ability of either Recursion, Exscientia or the combined company to retain key personnel; the ability to realize the benefits of the proposed combination, including cost synergies; the ability to successfully integrate Exscientia's business with Recursion's business, at all or in a timely manner; the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against Recursion, Exscientia or others since the announcement of the proposed combination; the amount of the costs, fees, expenses and charges related to the proposed combination; the effect of economic, market or business conditions, including competition, regulatory approvals and commercializing drug candidates, or changes in such conditions, have on Recursion's, Exscientia's and the combined company's operations, revenue, cash flow, operating expenses, employee hiring and retention, relationships with business partners, the development or launch of technology enabled drug discovery, and commercializing drug candidates; the risks of conducting Recursion's and Exscientia's business internationally; the impact of changes in interest rates by the Federal Reserve and other central banks; the impact of potential inflation, volatility in foreign currency exchange rates and supply chain disruptions; the ability to maintain technology-enabled drug discovery in the biopharma industry; and risks relating to the market value of Recursion's Class A common stock to be issued in the proposed combination.
Other important factors and information are contained in Recursion's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Exscientia's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F, including the risks summarized in the section entitled "Risk Factors," Recursion's subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Exscientia's filing on Form 6-K filed May 21, 2024 and August 8, 2024, and each company's other periodic filings with the SEC, which can be accessed at https://ir.recursion.com in the case of Recursion, http://investors.exscientia.ai in the case of Exscientia, or www.sec.gov. All forward-looking statements are qualified by these cautionary statements and apply only as of the date they are made. Neither Recursion nor Exscientia undertakes any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.