The two founders of Dublin-based clinical trials group Icon will net about $45 million (€39.3 million) by selling 1.5 million shares in the firm within weeks.
Dr John Climax, current Icon chairman, stands to net about $15 million from the share placing, while director Dr Ronan Lambe will net about $30 million.
At the same time, Icon will issue 1.5 million new shares to raise about $45 million to fund several acquisition targets the firm has identified.
Documents relating to Icon's share placing, which were filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week, show the company expects the offer price to be about $30.17. This is the assumed offering price based on the last reported sale price of the firm's shares on July 17th on Nasdaq. But it is possible this will change following a roadshow in the next fortnight.
Since publication of the share offer document, Icon's shares have risen well due to the publication of strong results. The shares closed at $36.72 last night.
The share prospectus also shows Dr Climax and Dr Lambe could sell an additional 450,000 shares if there was strong demand for the share placing.
Both men studied for their doctorates in pharmacology at the National University of Ireland before founding Icon in 1990.
Dr Climax served as chief executive of the group from 1990 to October 2002 and Dr Lambe served as Icon board chairman from June 1990 to November 2002.
Dr Climax and Dr Lambe, who mortgaged their homes to provide start-up capital for their venture, each raised $5.3 million when Icon floated on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange in 1998.
Icon, which employs 2,325 staff in 17 countries, develops trials and tests for drug companies such as Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline. About 71 per cent of its sales are generated in the US market.
Icon's net revenue was $156.6 million during fiscal 2002.
The share offer documents confirm the firm has also entered into a $60 million credit agreement with Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank.
It says $40 million of the credit facility will be used to fund acquisitions, while the remaining $20 million would be used as working capital. Several acquisition targets have been identified, but none has progressed beyond preliminary discussions, says the document.
On July 17th, Icon said it had entered into a non-binding agreement to acquire Globomax, a drug developer with some 80 staff, for about $11 million. Additional payments of up to $4 million would also be paid if certain targets were met.
Icon has a market capitalisation of almost $430 million.
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