NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Ariosa Diagnostics has priced its planned initial public offering of 3.5 million shares.
In an amended Form S-1 filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, the company priced its common shares at a range of $16 to $18 per share. At the $17 midpoint price, the offering would bring in net proceeds of $52.3 million, the San Jose, Calif.-based non-invasive prenatal testing firm said.
Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners and an affiliated fund that currently holds shares in Ariosa have indicated an interest in purchasing up to $10 million of the company's shares at the IPO price, the company said
Ariosa has also granted the offering's underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 535,000 additional shares to cover any overallotments. If the options are exercised in full, net proceeds would increase to about $60.6 million. JP Morgan and Citigroup Global Markets are acting as joint book-running managers on the planned IPO. William Blair and Leerink Swann are also named as underwriters.
Ariosa filed last month to go public on the Nasdaq Global Market under ticker symbol "AROS."
In its SEC document on Thursday, it said that it plans to use about $25 million to expand its commercial organization, including personnel for sales and marketing initiatives. About $8 million would be used for its San Jose laboratory infrastructure, and the rest would go toward general corporate purposes.
Ariosa recorded $53.3 million in revenues and a net loss of $2.4 million in 2013. In the first quarter of 2014, it generated $19.5 million in revenues and a profit of $1.1 million. The firm had $16.8 million in cash and cash equivalents as of March 31.