NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Natera has filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed $100 million common stock offering.
The San Carlos, California-based molecular diagnostics firm filed the automatic shelf registration statement at the close of the market Tuesday. Based on its closing price of $20.28 on Monday, Natera said that it would offer around 4.9 million shares.
JP Morgan, Cowen, and Piper Jaffray are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering. Baird and Canaccord Genuity are listed as co-managers for the offering. These underwriters have been granted an option to purchase up to an additional $15 million worth of shares in the offering.
Natera said that it anticipates using net proceeds for working capital and general corporate purposes including continued research and development investments.
As of the end of 2018, Natera held cash and cash equivalents of $46.4 million. The firm hasn't released its first quarter financial results yet, but it noted in its prospectus that it expects revenues for the first three months of 2019 to be between $65 million and $67 million, in line with analysts' consensus estimate of $65.5 million. It further noted that it processed around 200,000 tests in the first quarter.
In addition to the offering, Natera said that this week it amended a $125 million credit facility signed in August 2017 with OrbiMed Royalty Opportunities II. The firm had already borrowed $75 million under that agreement, and it had until March 31, 2019 to request the remaining $50 million. The amended credit agreement extends the availability of a delayed draw to Dec. 31, 2019.