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Pacific Biosciences Prices $86.9M Public Stock Offering

NEW YORK – Pacific Biosciences said on Wednesday that it has priced a public offering of 19.4 million shares of its common stock at $4.47 per share.

The Menlo Park, California-based sequencing instrument maker said it expects gross proceeds of approximately $86.9 million and will use the funds for R&D, additional product launches, commercial infrastructure expansion, and general corporate purposes. PacBio may also use a portion of the proceeds to acquire or invest in or acquire businesses, technologies, product candidates, or intellectual property, though it has "no present commitments or agreements to do so," the firm said in a statement.

Morgan Stanley and Cowen are joint book-running managers for the offering, while Cantor Fitzgerald is also acting as a book-running manager.

PacBio has granted underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 2.9 million shares of common stock at the offering price. The offering is expected to close on or about Aug. 14, 2020, the firm said.

If the underwriters were to exercise their option in full, PacBio's gross proceeds would be $99.9 million. Under a September 2019 expansion of PacBio's merger agreement with Illumina, abandoned in January, PacBio would need to repay at least $34 million in cash continuation advances received from Illumina if it raises at least $100 million in equity in a single transaction.

In morning trading on the Nasdaq, shares of PacBio were up 20 percent at $5.36.

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