Syncona offloads Blue Earth Diagnostics to Bracco Imaging

Healthcare company Syncona has agreed to sell its portfolio company Blue Earth Diagnostics to Bracco Imaging for $450m.

Syncona said it will generate roughly £337m of net proceeds from the sale of Blue Earth - a "leader" in the radio-diagnostic space - further strengthening the group's strategic capital pool and enhancing its ability to build and fund portfolio companies such as Freeline, Gyroscope and Achilles, which had all recently received their final tranches of previously committed funding and were expected to conduct new financings.

The FTSE 250 resident has already deployed £64.1m of capital into its portfolio companies since 31 March and told investors it would look to continue funding them "ambitiously" as the companies scale to capitalise on the opportunities available to them.

Chief executive Martin Murphy said: "Blue Earth clearly demonstrates the success of Syncona's strategy to found, build and fund innovative companies.

"We are proud of this landmark achievement, which is testament to the utility of the product and the exceptional work of the Blue Earth and Syncona teams."

As of 0830 BST, Syncona shares had climbed 3.08% to 229.88p.