Fenwick & West represented Acucela Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company that specializes in discovering and developing novel therapeutics to treat and slow the progression of sight-threatening ophthalmic diseases, in its $167 million initial public offering on the Mothers market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The company priced 9,200,000 shares of common stock at a price to the public of $17.65 per share.
Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co., Ltd. acted as lead underwriter for the offering. SBI Securities Co., Ltd., Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd., Mizuho Securities Co., Ltd. and SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. acted as co-managers for the offering.
The Fenwick transaction team included corporate attorneys Stephen Graham, William Hughes, Kenneth Linhares, Matthew Karwoski and Ryan McRobert; executive compensation and employee benefits attorney Blake Martell; and senior corporate paralegal Ellen Welichko.