BG Medicine Inc. is getting in front of what is quickly becoming a throng, filing documents Jan. 29 for a $86.25 million initial public stock offering.
The bid comes almost exactly two years to the day after the Waltham, Mass.-based biomarker diagnostics company, citing “adverse market conditions,” pulled back a similar bid to go public. Since then, only 62 companies completed IPOs, according to Thomson Financial Securities Data; the 58 prospective offerings already proposed during 2010 — if eventually successful — would nearly eclipse that meager total.
According to BG Medicine‘s preliminary prospectus, the company generated about $8.5 million in revenues during 2009, a 42 percent decline from the prior year. But the company just received CE Mark certification to for its BGM Galectin-3 test for heart attacks in the European Union in October 2009 and is expecting U.S. regulatory approvals later this year.
Proceeds from the offering would be used to fund commercial launches of BGM Galectin-3 and ongoing biomarker discovery and possible clinical trials. Company officials also said money from the IPO could be used to acquire complementary businesses, although they are not currently involved in any active merger discussions.
BG Medicine — which débuted in February 2000 as Beyond Genomics Inc. — recorded a $16.1 million net loss during 2009 and spent about $18 million in cash on operations last year. The company changed its name in 2004.
An IPO would give existing BG Medicine stakeholders an opportunity to cash out their positions. Cambridge, Mass.-based Flagship Ventures now owns more than 44 percent of the firm; other significant stakeholders include the Gilde Europe Food & Agribusiness Fund, a Dutch venture capital group, and two strategic corporate partners, Humana Inc. and Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
According to its previous IPO bid, BG Medicine expected to raise up to $45 million through the sale of 4.5 million shares at $10 apiece. Jefferies & Co. and UBS Investment Bank have signed on as lead underwriters for the current public offering.
The company’s proposed ticker on the Nasdaq exchange is “BGMD.”
