SkinBioTherepeutics completes second acquisition with deal for Yorkshire firm BTS

Growing life sciences firm SkinBioTherapeutics has made its second acquisition with the help of one of its main shareholders.

The Newcastle firm, which is focused on skin health, has bought Yorkshire company Bio-Tech Solutions Ltd (BTS) for £1.25m. The deal has been funded with a three-year loan from shareholder David Brierwood plus a fundraise of £250,000 and the use of group reserves.

BTS, which is based in Driffield, is a manufacturer and supplier of health, hygiene and personal care products which has 23 employees involved in manufacturing, packaging, formulation, regulatory affairs and back office. It had revenues of £2.1m and Ebitda of around £500,000 for the year ending June 30, with growth forecast this year.

SkinBioTherapeutics - which completed another acquisition, for Cambridgeshire’s Dermatonics Limited, in January - said that the deal would provide cost synergies as well as the potential for a future development platform for advanced topical creams and capsules. The company added that it now had a cash runway to support its operations through to the summer of 2026.

Stuart Ashman, CEO of SkinBioTherapeutics plc, said: “This is the second acquisition we have made as part of our buy and build strategy to generate immediate and longer-term benefits to the SkinBioTherapeutics Group.

“As with our acquisition of Dermatonics earlier this year, this deal brings in revenues, positive Ebitda and cash, as well as providing the group with cost synergies. We gain access to an important and varied customer base in the healthcare space with an excellent team which we intend to retain. The main rationale for the deal is obtaining regulatory approved manufacturing facilities which will underpin the expansion of our product portfolio. BTS brings us the capability to manufacture products ourselves and supports our other pillars for the longer term.

“In December 2023, I talked about ‘transforming the group’. It may have taken slightly longer than we had intended to deliver the second acquisition, however with a projected annualised group turnover in excess of £6.3m before any revenue from the Croda partnership these two acquisitions provide us with a strong product portfolio and integrated manufacturing.

“I believe we can claim that the ‘transformation’ has well and truly begun. This is another building block to the solid scientific and financial foundations of the group and, with the successful completion of the Croda clinical studies, we are moving rapidly towards group profitability.”

Ian Moulds, founder of Bio-Tech Solutions said: “Building up BTS has been a life’s work. As I reach retirement, I’m very happy to be handing it over to the SkinBioTherapeutics team, where it can be become a fundamental part of a bigger entity.