Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (VRTX)

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Vertex Pharma to Raise Up to $405.8M
Wednesday February 13, 7:52 am ET
Vertex Pharma to Raise Up to $405.8 Million in Sale of Shares and Notes

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) -- Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Wednesday it will sell both senior convertible notes and 6 million shares of common stock at $17.14 each.

If the maximum number of notes and shares are sold, gross receipts would total roughly $405.8 million. Shares rose 41 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $17.55 in premarket trading.

Besides the 6 million shares, the biotechnology company granted the underwriters an option to buy up to an additional 900,000 shares of common stock on the same terms and conditions to cover over-allotments, if any. As of Feb. 6, the company had 133 million shares of common stock outstanding.

Vertex also agreed to sell $250 million aggregate principal amount of 4.75 percent convertible senior subordinated notes due 2013 and granted the underwriters an option to buy up to an additional $37.5 million aggregate principal amount of notes.

The notes will be convertible into shares of Vertex common stock at an initial conversion rate of 43.2171 shares of common stock per $1,000 principal amount of notes, which represents an initial conversion price of about $23.14 per share.

The common stock offering and the note offering are being conducted as separate public offerings, and the closing of each is not contingent upon the other.

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. is acting as the sole book-runner, with Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc., Goldman, Sachs & Co. and JP Morgan Securities Inc. acting as co-managers, for the offerings.