Trinity Biotech planning to raise $200m through equity and debt
IRISH medical diagnostic firm Trinity Biotech is laying the groundwork to raise up to $200m (€177m) in the United States.
The Bray-based company, already listed on the Nasdaq, said any funds raised would be used for a number of possible purposes including acquisitions, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
It’s planned that the funds raised could be a mix of equity and debt, the company said in the filing.
Last year, Trinity Biotech generated revenues of $90.4m and a $29m loss. The last time it made a profit was in 2015.
The company develops and manufactures diagnostic products for the point-of-care and clinical laboratory markets. Its tests are used to detect and test a range of infections, diseases and conditions such as HIV, Lyme and diabetes.
It has also developed a Covid19 test. It expected emergency use authorisation to be secured in the United States for the test by the end of June, and to quickly have an antibody test on the market also.
“With these tests we will be ideally positioned to participate in the surge in testing which will accompany the return to post-pandemic normality,” it told investors when it issued first quarter results at the end of May.
Trinity Biotech, whose chief executive and chairman is Ronan O’Caoimh, said in its prospectus that the maximum it intends to raise is $200m and that it will be done via any combination of ordinary shares, warrants to purchase shares, debt securities or subscription rights.
The company was founded in 1992 and listed its shares in New York that year. It currently has a market capitalisation of just $60.2m.
Its shares were trading at $2.49 yesterday, virtually unchanged compared to this time last year. They traded as low as 62 cents in March and have declined from $18.71 five years ago.
“We intend to use the net proceeds from the sale of the securities covered by this prospectus for potential future acquisitions and for general corporate purposes, which may include the repayment of debt, continued product development and commercialisation,” it said in its prospectus.
The company said in May that the Covid pandemic had a limited impact on first quarter revenue, but that the impact during the second quarter would be “more significant”, due to lower testing volumes across all the firm’s major markets.
Founded in 1992, it listed its shares in New York that year