RTP firm looks for $900 million in IPO

Talecris Biotherapeutics is going public Tuesday on Wall Street, aiming to raise nearly $900 million in what would be the largest initial public offering of stock this year.

Posted 2:25 p.m. Sep 15, 2009 — Updated 4:05 p.m. Sep 15, 2009

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — Talecris Biotherapeutics is going public Tuesday on Wall Street, aiming to raise nearly $900 million in what would be the largest initial public offering of stock this year.

If the IPO hits Talecris’ target of between $18 and 420 per share, the IPO would be among the largest ever by a local firm.

Talecris formally announced its IPO plans last week. It is privately held.

The stock offering attempt is not the first for Talecris. The company planned a $1 billion offering in 2007 but later withdrew it.

Earlier this year, a proposed merger between Talecris and Australian rival CSL fell through. Talecris received a $75 million merger termination fee from CSL.

In 2008, CSL and Talecris agreed to a merger worth some $3.1 billion. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission challenged the merger in May. CSL and Talecris terminated the merger deal in June.

Talecris focuses on plasma-derived therapies. One of its treatments, called Gamunex, targets chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), a disorder that leads to muscle weakness and fatigue and impairs motor skills. Gamunex is a liquid immune globulin intravenous (IGIV) therapy.

Talecris is issuing 28.9 million shares, and Talecris Holdings LLC, which is owned by Cerberus Partners and Ampersand Ventures, is issuing 15.8 million shares. Underwriters of the offering have the option to purchase as an additional 6.7 million shares.

Its shares will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol “TLCR.” Proceeds from the offering will be used to repay debt.

The company has some 2,000 employees in North Carolina and operates several plasma collection centers in the state.

In 2008, Talecris generated revenues of $1.4 billion and profits of $65.8 million.

Through June 30 of this year, Talecris said in the filing, revenues were up 20 percent from a year earlier at $747.4 million with a profit of $116.7 million. The revenues include the termination fee.

In its filing, Talecris projected that the plasma-derived product market would continue to grow.

“The human plasma-derived products industry has demonstrated revenue growth at a compound annual rate of approximately 8% globally over the past 21 years with worldwide sales of approximately $9.7 billion in 2007 based on MRB data,” Talecris said. “U.S. sales have grown at a compound annual rate of approximately 10% over the past 18 years with sales of $4.0 billion in 2008, representing a 13.5% increase over 2007, according to the MRB U.S. Book.”

Talecris forecast long-term growth of between 6 and 8 percent a year. It cited the following factors:

Population growth;
Discovery and approval of new applications and indications for plasma-based products;
Growth of diagnosed cases;
Increased treatment of untreated but diagnosed patients;
Increased patient compliance and appropriate dosing levels for diagnosed, treated patients; and
Geographic expansion.

Morgan Stanley, Goldman, Sachs & Co., Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. are managing the IPO along with Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Barclays Capital Inc. and UBS Investment Bank.

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