MaxCyte to Acquire Acorn Bio for $151.8 Million to Expand Its Business
Key Facts
MaxCyte has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Acorn Bioproducts from affiliates of Archline Investment Management for total consideration of $151.8 million, according to a company filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on November 10, 2026. The deal expands MaxCyte’s presence in the manufacturing stages of cell therapies, the company said, by adding Acorn’s reagents and ancillary materials used in the field. Consideration will comprise cash, stock and secured deferred payments, while closing remains subject to customary conditions. MaxCyte said the combination would support five commercially approved therapies and more than 100 clinical programs. The company presents the deal as an expansion of its manufacturing workflow and an addition of recurring consumables revenue.
Consideration includes $105 million in cash at closing, subject to customary adjustments, as well as 20,639,733 shares of MaxCyte stock. The company valued the shares at about $26.8 million based on the closing price on November 9, 2026. It will also pay $20 million in cash in two secured deferred installments: $10 million on the first business day of January 2028 and the same amount on the first business day of January 2029. Including shares in the consideration will issue a new stake to the selling shareholders, and MaxCyte warned that this would dilute existing shareholders’ ownership. The filing added that resales of the shares after the lock-up period expires could affect the stock price.
To finance the deal, MaxCyte announced a new credit facility of up to $75 million from MidCap Financial. The facility consists of a $55 million term loan and a $20 million revolving line of credit. The company expects to draw $20 million from the term loan and $2 million from the revolving line at closing. MaxCyte estimates that it will have cash liquidity of between $40 million and $45 million upon completion of the deal. It also expects Acorn’s positive cash flow to help reduce the group’s annual cash burn to less than $10 million in 2027.
Acorn is based in Boca Raton, Florida, and supplies good manufacturing practice-grade reagents and ancillary materials used at various stages of cell therapy manufacturing. These include production scale-up and cryopreservation, according to MaxCyte’s filing. The company says Acorn’s products will add consumables to its business alongside its existing platform and services. MaxCyte expects Acorn to generate about $28 million in revenue and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of between $7 million and $8 million in 2026. These are the company’s estimates of Acorn’s performance for the year, not audited results disclosed in the filing.
The deal follows a decline in MaxCyte’s revenue in 2025 to about $33.0 million from $38.6 million in 2024, a year-on-year drop of 15%. The decline included core revenue and program-related revenue, according to the company’s annual report. In the third quarter of 2026, MaxCyte reported total revenue of $10.2 million, up 49% from the same period in 2025. Core business revenue was $8.2 million, up 27% year on year. The company raised its 2026 revenue outlook to at least $34.5 million, excluding the impact of the Acorn acquisition.
MaxCyte expects to complete the acquisition before the end of 2026, subject to the expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, Nasdaq approval to list the shares, and other customary closing conditions. The company said the deal does not require contingent financing or shareholder approval. In stock trading, a report published by RTTNews on November 10 said MaxCyte shares rose 11.54% to $1.45 in premarket trading. L7 data showed the stock closed at $1.30 on November 9, after closing at $1.46 on November 3, $1.39 on November 4, $1.31 on November 5 and $1.26 on November 6. The reported gain was in premarket trading on the morning of November 10, while the closing prices were for prior days.