New year, new Suneva Medical. The medical aesthetics player will soon get a makeover of its own, in the form of a reverse merger with Viveon Health Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company.
Viveon Health went public through an initial public offering in December 2020 that brought in proceeds of just over $200 million. Once its reverse merger with Suneva has gotten the go-ahead, the companies will combine and begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the very fitting ticker symbol “RNEW.”
Under the terms of the deal, Viveon Health will dole out at least 25 million shares to Suneva’s current security holders, plus up to another 12 million shares if the combined company’s share price hits certain benchmarks in the five years after the transaction closes.
That closing date is slated for sometime in the first half of this year. The merger has already been approved by the boards of both Suneva and Viveon Health but still must be green-lit by their stockholders.
All told, once the SPAC deal has gone through, the resulting public company is expected to have a pro forma equity value of about $511 million.
Suneva has developed a variety of medical aesthetic technologies, many of which it says are the first to be cleared by the FDA in their respective fields. Additionally, in 2015, its collagen-stimulating Bellafill became the first dermal filler approved by the regulator to treat acne scarring.
The San Diego-based company’s devices include the Plasma IQ, a hand-held tool that emits a controlled stream of plasma energy to create microinjuries to the skin, encouraging the tissue to tighten and retract in response. The SeruGlow microchanneling device induces a similar response by pricking the skin with 20 small needles at once. Suneva has also developed the PureGraft system, which filters out contaminants from harvested fat for grafting procedures.
The FDA isn’t the only one to throw its support behind the products. Suneva has raised more than $100 million in VC funding in the last decade. In its latest financing, it raked in $15 million last September, contributing to what the company said in the SPAC deal announcement has been 18 months of solid expansion, resulting in a 40% year-over-year revenue boost and an anticipated yearly revenue growth rate of 50% through 2024.
Since 2019, Suneva has been led by Patricia Altavilla, who will hold onto the CEO role after the SPAC merger is complete. Viveon Health CEO Jagi Gill, meanwhile, will join the company’s board of directors.
“We are excited to be partnering with Viveon Health as we step into the next phase of growth as a leader in the regenerative aesthetics sector supporting the needs of physicians and patients seeking proven and validated innovations,” Altavilla said in a statement. “Our journey to this point has been paved with product innovation and clinical education led by an experienced team that brings a proven track record of sales growth and market development.”