Quidel
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Retires $4 mil. in 12% unsecured long-term debt incurred in the San Diego firm's 1991 merger with Monoclonal Antibodies ("The Gray Sheet" Feb. 4, 1991, In Brief). To retire the debt, Quidel issued 975,609 shares of common stock to John Hancock Capital Growth Funds, which now owns 1.6 mil. shares and represents Quidel's largest stockholder. "The exchange price was calculated to approximate" the June 29 market price of the stock, $4.50, "less a discount of 8.9 percent equal to the estimated transaction costs which would otherwise have been incurred if Quidel had sought outside equity financing," according to a July 2 press release. The transaction will save Quidel $480,000 annually in interest expense.