Skip to main content
Premium Trial:

Request an Annual Quote

Natera Prices $250M Senior Notes Offering

NEW YORK – Natera said on Tuesday that it has priced the $250 million convertible senior notes offering it had announced the day before.

The notes, which will be sold to qualified institutional buyers, will have an initial conversion rate of 25.7785 shares of common stock per $1,000 principal amount of notes, which represents an initial effective conversion price of about $38.79 per share, approximately a 30 percent premium to the $29.84 closing price of Natera's stock on Monday.

The initial buyers of the notes have been granted a 13-day option to purchase up to an additional $37.5 million aggregate principal amount of the notes.

As previously noted, Natera plans to use a portion of the net proceeds from the offering to repay its 2017 Term Loan with OrbiMed, and another part for working capital, general corporate purposes, and research and development. It may also use the proceeds to acquire complementary businesses, technologies, or other assets, though the firm said it has no agreements or understandings regarding material acquisitions or strategic transactions at this time.

The senior notes will pay 2.25 percent interest in cash per year on a semi-annual basis, starting Nov. 1, and will mature on May 1, 2027 unless redeemed, repurchased, or converted prior to this date.

The sale is expected to close on April 16.

The Scan

Positive Framing of Genetic Studies Can Spark Mistrust Among Underrepresented Groups

Researchers in Human Genetics and Genomics Advances report that how researchers describe genomic studies may alienate potential participants.

Small Study of Gene Editing to Treat Sickle Cell Disease

In a Novartis-sponsored study in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that a CRISPR-Cas9-based treatment targeting promoters of genes encoding fetal hemoglobin could reduce disease symptoms.

Gut Microbiome Changes Appear in Infants Before They Develop Eczema, Study Finds

Researchers report in mSystems that infants experienced an enrichment in Clostridium sensu stricto 1 and Finegoldia and a depletion of Bacteroides before developing eczema.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia Treatment Specificity Enhanced With Stem Cell Editing

A study in Nature suggests epitope editing in donor stem cells prior to bone marrow transplants can stave off toxicity when targeting acute myeloid leukemia with immunotherapy.