Article courtesy of cienisbelievin over on Yahoo...
>>Ciena Completes $1.5B Offerings
By Michael P Bruno, Washtech
LINTHICUM, MARYLAND, U.S.A.,
06 Feb 2001, 10:57 AM CST
Ciena Corp. [NASDAQ:CIEN], the Linthicum, Md.-based fiber optics equipment maker, has wrapped up public offerings worth about $1.52 billion from common stock and convertible bonds.
The funding infusion means expansion of the company's Baltimore-area facilities, including scores if not hundreds of new Maryland hires this year, a Ciena spokesperson said in an interview.
The firm this morning said it had completed the sale of 11 million shares of common stock at a per-share price of $83.50, as well as the sale of $600 million of 3.75 percent convertible notes due Feb. 1, 2008.
The notes will be convertible into common stock shares at a price of roughly $104.38 per share, Ciena said.
Net proceeds from the offerings will go to fund Ciena's operations and for other general corporate purposes, including working capital, capital expenditures and potential acquisitions, the company said.
Specifically, the new financing is helping to acquire Baltimore-area real estate to expand Ciena's facilities, spokesperson Denny Bilter said. The growth also means probably another 1,800 workers worldwide added in 2001 to the firm's current roster of roughly 3,000 - with a "significant" number going to Ciena's lead manufacturing facility here, he said.
Further details have not been publicized or outlined yet, he added.
"We can't find enough good people," Bilter said. "We're just going to keep adding them." Bilter said the company has been taking on at least 30 to 40 new employees each week for the past few weeks, which supports Ciena's goal of 75 percent growth this year.
Earlier this month, Ciena's board sought shareholder approval to more than double the number of shares it was authorized to issue in offerings, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The increase comes to a vote at the annual stockholders meeting on March 14.
Ciena further said today it granted the underwriters in the latest offering an option to buy up to an additional 1.65 million shares of common stock, along with $90 million more of the convertible notes to cover over-allotments. Ciena offered all of the securities, though the firm's management did not sell any common stock.
Goldman, Sachs and Co., Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Bank of America Securities LLC and Robertson Stephens managed the offerings.
Ciena shares were off $1.312, or 1.55 percent, to $83.188 apiece around 11:15 a.m. Eastern today.<<
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