NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Nanosphere today priced the public offering of 40 million shares of its common stock at $.50 per share.
The company also announced after the close of the market on Tuesday preliminary revenues of $3.7 million for the third quarter, said that its shares will move to the Nasdaq Capital Market from the Nasdaq Global Market, and said that it had terminated a stock purchase agreement forged earlier this year.
Nanosphere, which is exploring strategic alternatives, anticipates net proceeds from the offering to be about $18.4 million. The Northbrook, Ill.-based molecular diagnostics firm will use the proceeds for general corporate purposes and working capital. Chardan Capital Markets is the sole book-running manager on the offering.
Nanosphere has granted the offering's underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 6 million shares to cover any overallotments. If the option is exercised in full, net proceeds from the offering will increase to $21.2 million, the company said. The closing of the offering is anticipated to close on Oct. 27.
The company also announced preliminary Q3 2014 revenues of $3.7 million, which would be above the consensus analyst estimate of $3.4 million. Nanosphere said that it had 30 new placements of its Verigene instruments during the quarter and ended the quarter with $12.5 million in cash and cash equivalents. Nanosphere is scheduled to release its third quarter financial results on Nov. 5.
Nanosphere additionally said that its shares will move to the Nasdaq Capital Market — which comprises companies with lower levels of market capitalization — from the Nasdaq Global Market, which comprises midcap-sized companies and has stricter listing requirements. Last month, the company received a letter from Nasdaq that the closing bid price on its shares had fallen below a minimum $1 per share price for the previous 30 days, putting the company at risk of getting delisted.
The move to the Nasdaq Capital Market will take effect on Thursday, Oct. 23, and upon the transfer, Nanosphere plans to opt in to Nasdaq's all-inclusive annual listing fee program for 2015, it said. Under the program, companies will not have to pay fees for, among other things, the issuance of additional shares, changes in name or symbol, or other corporate changes.
Lastly, Nanosphere said that it terminated a common stock purchase agreement with Aspire Capital Group announced in March. The deal called for Nanosphere to sell up to $30 million of its common stock to the investment fund. Nanosphere did not provide a reason for the termination of the deal but said no shares were issued or sold.