NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Pacific Biosciences has gone public, raising $200 million through its initial public offering.
The Menlo Park, Calif.-based developer of single-molecule, real-time sequencing technology offered 12.5 million shares at $16 per share, the mid-point of its last estimated range of $15-$17. It expects to begin trading today on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "PACB."
The underwriters for the offering have a 30-day option to acquire an additional 1,875,000 shares at the IPO price.
PacBio had initially filed for its IPO in August, seeking to raise up to $200 million. It subsequently said in an amended filing that it was seeking to raise up to $230 million, which would be the total amount raised if the over-allotment option is exercised.
The firm has said that it intends to use proceeds from the offering for ongoing R&D associated with the SMRT technology, to increase sales and marketing efforts in advance of its intended commercial launch of the system later this year, to increase the scale of its manufacturing operations, and for general corporate purposes including hiring personnel.
Another sequencing firm, Complete Genomics, also is seeking to go public. Yesterday, the firm, which will focus on providing services rather than selling instruments, raised the total offering for its proposed IPO to as much as $96.6 million from its original goal of $86.3 million.