GI Dynamics hit its lower benchmark by raising $86 million in its down-under initial public offering.
The Lexington, Mass.-based device company hoped for between $86 million and $102 million through sales of some 72.7 million chess depository interests at a price of A$1.10 per CDIs, a type of security used by the Australian Stock Exchange to allow international companies to trade on the local market.
The company also opened another 13.6 million shares through an oversubscription of the offering.
Though company spokespeople were unable to comment on the IPO at the time, Australian filings showed that Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT) participated in a private placement concurrent with the public offering by investing $5 million in the weight-loss treatment device company, adding to the $15 million invested prior.
GI Dynamics also received investments from the Johnson & Johnson Development Corp., along with big venture capital firms Advanced Technology Ventures, Domain, Polaris Ventures and Cutlass Capital.
GI Dynamics’ EndoBarrier gastrointestinal sleeve won Australian approval for treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity late last month. The device won CE Mark in Dec., 2009, for six months of treatment, which prompted the first investment from Medtronic, which joined other investors in backing the firm as it prepared for commercial launch in the European Union.
The Endobarrier has since been approved for 12 months of treatment in the European Union, and is commercially available in Chile, Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The company has also received an investigational device exemption approval to commence a pilot trial of the EndoBarrier in the United States.
The EndoBarrier is a plastic sleeve inserted endoscopically into the small intestine, where it slows the uptake of nutrients from food to induce weight loss and help control the symptoms of diabetes.
GI Dynamics’ offering is the year’s largest by market capitalization, The Australian reported.
