BioCentury
ARTICLE | Finance

Stocking stuffers

December 10, 2001 8:00 AM UTC

Pre-holiday fundraisers look to be having a jolly time, as debt and equity deals topped $1.6 billion in the first week of December. And in keeping with the season, some companies - much like most consumers - are choosing to fund a portion of their holiday operating expenses on credit. To that end, the debt engine cranked up last week with two companies selling $1 billion of convertible notes. Cephalon and reagent supplier Invitrogen (IVGN) each placed $500 million and both deals were bumped up, as CEPH filed earlier in the week to raise $300 million, and IVGN filed to raise $400 million. Neurological company CEPH will use a portion of the proceeds to help fund its $450 million cash purchase of pharmaceutical company Group Lafon (see Ebb & Flow Focus, A17).

In addition to the mega-note deals, ConjuChem (TSE:CJC), which develops modified versions of existing drugs using its bioconjugation technology, raised C$30 million (US$19.1 million) through the sale of a 7-year convert to Baker/Tisch Capital. ...