Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
Market Information
Our common shares have been listed on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "ABCL" since December 11, 2020. Prior to that date, there was no public trading market for our common shares.
Holders of Common Shares
As of March 23, 2021, the latest practicable date prior to the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, there were approximately 200 holders of record of our common shares.
Dividend Policy
We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our share capital. We currently intend to retain any future earnings to fund the development and expansion of our business, and, therefore, we do not anticipate paying cash dividends on our share capital in the foreseeable future. Any future determination to pay dividends will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our results of operations, financial condition, capital requirements, contractual restrictions and other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors. In addition, under the terms of our contribution agreements with Western Economic Diversification Canada, we are restricted from paying any dividends until we have repaid the contributions thereunder in full.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Equity Securities
Set forth below is information regarding securities issued by us during the period covered by this report that were not registered under the Securities Act. Included is the consideration, if any, we received for such securities.
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In March 2020, we sold an aggregate of 6,017,784 convertible preferred shares at a purchase price of $12.4631 per share for an aggregate amount of approximately $75.0 million.
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In October 2020, we issued the convertible notes in the aggregate amount of $90.0 million. In connection with the completion of our IPO, the principal amount of the convertible notes and accrued interest thereon converted into an aggregate of 6,093,524 common shares.
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Prior to the filing of our registration statement on Form S-8 covering our equity incentive plans, we granted options to purchase an aggregate of 20,800,520 common shares with a weighted-average exercise price of $2.81 per share, to certain of our employees, consultants and directors in connection with services provided to us by such persons.
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Prior to the filing of our registration statement on Form S-8, we issued and sold an aggregate of 2,719,870 common shares with a weighted-average purchase price of $0.37 per share to employees, directors and consultants for aggregate proceeds to us of approximately $999,607 upon the exercise of stock options.
None of the foregoing transactions involved any underwriters, underwriting discounts or commissions, or any public offering. The sales of the above securities were deemed to be exempt from registration under the Securities Act in reliance upon Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act (or Regulation D or Regulation S promulgated thereunder) or Rule 701 promulgated under Section 3(b) of the Securities Act as transactions by an issuer not involving any public offering or pursuant to benefit plans and contracts relating to compensation as provided under Rule 701. The recipients of the securities in each of these transactions represented their intentions to acquire the securities for investment only and not with a view to or for sale in connection with any distribution thereof and appropriate legends were placed upon the share certificates issued in these transactions. All of the foregoing securities are deemed restricted securities for purposes of the Securities Act.
Use of Proceeds from Initial Public Offering
On December 15, 2020, we completed the initial public offering, or IPO, of our common shares pursuant to which we issued and sold 27,772,500 common shares at a price to the public of $20.00 per share, which included the exercise in full of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional common shares.
The offer and sale of all of the shares of our common shares in our IPO were registered under the Securities Act pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-1, as amended (File No. 333-250838), which was declared effective by the SEC on December 10,
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2020 . Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated, Berenberg Capital Markets LLC, SVB Leerink LLC and BMO Capital Markets Corp. acted as the underwriters of our IPO.
We received aggregate gross proceeds from our IPO of $555.5 million, or aggregate net proceeds of $522.8 million after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering costs. None of the underwriting discounts and commissions or offering expenses were incurred or paid, directly or indirectly, to any of our directors or officers or their associates or to persons owning 10% or more of our common shares or to any of our affiliates.
As of December 31, 2020, we have used $8.1 million of the net proceeds from the IPO. There has been no material change in our planned use of the net proceeds from the IPO as described in the final prospectus for our IPO.
Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers
None.
Equity Compensation Plans
The information required by Item 5 of Form 10-K regarding equity compensation plans is incorporated herein by reference to Item 11 of Part III of this Annual Report.
Item 6. Selected Financial Data.
Reserved.
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