This article has been updated with pricing and closing information for the offering.
NEW YORK – Natera on Thursday priced and upsized a follow-on public offering of shares of its common stock.
The company said it will offer 4.5 million shares of its common stock at $113.00 per share, and that it will grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 675,000 shares at the public offering price. If all shares are sold at the offering price, including the additional underwriters' shares, the company could raise up to $584.8 million in gross proceeds.
Natera expects the offering to close on July 26.
In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for working capital and general corporate purposes, as well as for continued investments in research and development for its core technology and development of its product offerings. Further, Natera said it may use a portion of the proceeds for acquisitions of complementary businesses, technologies, or other assets.
For example, the firm has entered into a development and option agreement with an unidentified third party that requires the third party to use its best efforts to perform an agreed-upon development plan and provide Natera with an exclusive option to purchase the third party's assets. Natera has paid its collaborator $10 million for conducting the development work and for entering into the agreement, and can elect to exercise its option, which would entail paying an additional $290 million for certain assets.
Natera noted that it hasn't yet decided whether to use proceeds from the offering to exercise its option to acquire assets from the third party, but that its management will have broad discretion in the allocation and use of the proceeds.
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Cowen, and SVB Leerink are acting as joint bookrunning managers for the offering. Baird, BTIG, and Craig-Hallum are acting as co-managers.
When the offering was announced on Tuesday, Natera said it expected to raise a total of $350 million. In its filing with the SEC, the company noted that the closing sale price of its stock on July 19 was $106.58 per share, so the offering would have been for 3,283,918 shares of its common stock at that assumed price. In addition, the company planned to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional $52.5 million in shares at the public offering price.