Sept 15 (Reuters) - Hong Kong biotech company Prenetics will go public through a merger agreement with Artisan Acquisition , a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), valuing the combined company at $1.7 billion, they said in a statement. “The transaction values Prenetics at an enterprise value of $1.25 billion with a combined equity value of approximately $1.7 billion, making Prenetics the first unicorn from Hong Kong to be publicly listed in any market,” the companies said in a joint statement late on Wednesday. The combined company will be traded on the Nasdaq and Prenetics will receive proceeds of up to $459 million in cash, the companies added. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021 or the first quarter of 2022, they said. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Himani Sarkar)