Public Ortho Companies Raising Money
BY DAVID KRESSEL, DECEMBER 15, 2005
In the past 24 hours, two public orthopedics companies have made announcements regarding fundraising.
First, Orthovita (VITA) announced the completion of a $13m PIPE (Private Investment in Public Equity). It was primarily sold to Magnetar Capital, and issued at $3/share, a 10% discount to market value. Magnetar is now one of the largest shareholders of VITA, and depending on how many of the 4.3 million shares went to Magnetar, it could be the top institutional shareholder, surpassing Orbimed. Angiotech (ANPI) will remain the largest shareholder, with 12% of shares outstanding.
Second, NuVasive (NUVA) filed for a $115 million secondary offering. Along with treasury stock, an unnamed large investor will also be selling. Our bet is that it is one of the VC investors, all of whom still have large holdings in NUVA. The funds will be used for sales and marketing expenses, as well as M&A (including the milestones that will be due to Pearsalls in connection to the sale of their Neodisc to NUVA). Today, NUVA is down 5% on the news.
