DMF Group and Corporate Finance Associates acted as the exclusive M&A advisors of adivo

Los Angeles, California September 16, 2023 - DMF Group, Frankfurt, and its partner Corporate Finance Associates Worldwide (CFAW), Los Angeles, exclusively advised the shareholders of adivo GmbH, Puchheim near Munich, on the sale of 100% of their shares to Zoetis Inc. (NYSE: ZTS), Parsippany, NJ, near New York.

Zoetis Inc. is the world's leading animal health company, with revenue amounting to more than USD 8bn. Boasting a market capitalization of USD 89bn, Zoetis is one of the 100 largest listed companies in the USA. adivo, which spun off from MorphoSys AG in 2018, is a leading research company in the field of advanced biopharmaceuticals for veterinary medicine. adivo develops animal-specific therapeutic antibodies using two innovative and patent-protected technology platforms for the de novo identification of species-specific antibody drug candidates with high effectivity, high developability and low risk of immunogenicity. These antibodies make new targeted therapy options possible and offer particular potential for indications that were previously untreatable or poorly treatable.

"DMF Group/Corporate Finance Associates Worldwide, our exclusive M&A advisors, played a pivotal role in shaping the outcome of this very successful transaction. They offer an unparalleled combination of deep expertise in both biotech and the animal health industry and an extensive network of relationships around the world, which made this transaction possible. Joining Zoetis means together we have multiple approaches to delivering more gold standard species-specific therapeutic antibodies to companion animals," commented Dr. Kathrin Ladetzki-Baehs, founder and CEO of adivo.

Through the transaction, Zoetis expands its competencies in the field of biologics, i.e., biotechnologically developed agents. Following their broad success in human medicine, therapeutic antibodies are increasingly gaining importance in veterinary medicine as well. The acquisition of adivo provides Zoetis with access to technological know-how as well as to existing species-specific antibody libraries and opens up the possibility for Zoetis to develop numerous novel veterinary products.

"For us, this was the second successful transaction in the animal health sector in a single year in which we advised a German technological leader in the animal health science sector to be acquired by a US-based market leader. The current transaction underlines our strong biotech practice, which is led by Dr. Björn Cochlovius, a globally renowned biotech expert," Dr. Patrick Schmidl and Michael Dirkes, both managing partners at DMF Group, explain. "The transaction demonstrates the global reach and unrivalled industry depth CFAW has in animal health," add Alexander Petersen and Sébastien Lafon, Managing Directors at CFAW's Los Angeles office, who lead CFAW's Animal Health Practice.

In addition to the founders, the selling shareholders of adivo GmbH include High-Tech Gründerfonds, the Swiss Occident Group AG and MorphoSys AG (NASDAQ: MOR), a leading German biopharmaceutical company listed on NASDAQ and TecDAX. The parties agreed not to disclose the financial terms of the transaction.

About DMF Group
DMF Group/Deutsche Mittelstandsfinanz GmbH, Frankfurt, is a leading bank-independent M&A advisory boutique which focus on German small and mid-sized companies. DMF Group is focused on advising successful companies in M&A transactions. One of the sector practices of DMF Group is dedicated to the biotech industry.

Being a partner of Corporate Finance Associates Worldwide gives DMF Group a global reach.

For more information, visit: www.dmfin.com

About Corporate Finance Associates Worldwide
Corporate Finance Associates Worldwide (CFAW) is an independent international investment banking firm serving middle-market businesses. For over 65 years, CFAW has been advocating on behalf of business owners who are restructuring a company, either through divestiture, merger, acquisition or recapitalization. CFAW has 36 offices around the world. One of the sector practices of CFAW is dedicated to the animal health industry.

For more information, visit: www.cfaw.com