NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Sequenom today priced its private offering of $110 million of its 5 percent convertible senior notes due Oct. 1, 2017.
The sale of the notes, which was announced on Monday, is expected to close on Sept. 17. Sequenom has also granted the initial purchasers of the notes a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional $20 million aggregate principal amount of the notes to cover any overallotments.
Net proceeds from the offering will be directed at the continued commercialization of the firm's MaterniT21 non-invasive test for trisomies, 21, 18, and 13. The test was launched almost a year ago.
The notes being sold are senior, unsecured obligations of Sequenom, it said, and will bear interest at a fixed rate of 5 percent annually, payable semiannually in arrears on April 1 and Oct. 1 of each year, starting April 1, 2013. The notes are convertible any time prior to the third trading day immediately preceding the maturity date into shares of Sequenom's common stock, at the option of the holders.
The company raised about $62 million in gross proceeds in January in a public offering.