VG Acquisition Corp

23andMe, Inc., a leading consumer genetics and research company, and VG Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: VGAC), a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by Virgin Group have entered into a definitive merger agreement. Upon completion of the transaction, estimated in the second calendar quarter of 2021, VGAC will change its New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) ticker symbol, and the combined company’s securities will trade under the ticker symbol “ME”.

23andMe offers a personalized health and wellness experience and has built a premier genetic database to unlock insights leading to the rapid discovery of promising new targets for drug development. The transaction will provide the capital to fund additional investment in key growth initiatives across 23andMe’s consumer health and therapeutics businesses.

The transaction will value the outstanding shares of capital stock of 23andMe at an aggregate enterprise value of approximately $3.5 billion. 23andMe CEO and Co-Founder Anne Wojcicki and Virgin Group’s Sir Richard Branson are each investing $25 million into the $250 million PIPE and are joined by leading institutional investors including Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, Altimeter Capital, Casdin Capital and Foresite Capital. The pro forma cash balance of the combined company will exceed $900 million at closing. Current shareholders of 23andMe will own 81% of the combined company

For more information, read the press release, watch the investor presentation webcast or download the investor presentation deck.

Out of the ordinary

Virgin is known for shaking up the status quo to build businesses that lift experiences out of the ordinary.

There are more than 40 Virgin branded businesses worldwide, employing over 60,000 people in more than 30 countries and generating in aggregate over $22 billion of revenue in their latest financial year.

Ten Virgin branded companies have each been valued at over a billion dollars.

Investment for growth

Our expertise has also been successfully applied to direct investments outside of the Virgin brand to fuel growth and generate returns.

These investments span across several industries, with a concentration in the tech and internet-enabled sector as demonstrated by the Group’s direct investments in Twitter, Slack, Pinterest, Ring, Trainline, Square and Transferwise, among others.