EResearchTechnology, PRWW Research Unit, Shelves $48 Mln IPO
Washington, March 1 (Bloomberg) -- EResearchTechnology Inc., a PRWW Ltd. subsidiary whose software helps drug companies streamline clinical trials, withdrew its $48 million initial stock sale, citing market conditions.
Philadelphia-based eResearch, which originally filed to go public in March 2000, planned to sell investors a 27 percent stake in the company, offering 4 million shares at $10 to $12 each, according to its SEC filing last November. That $48 million maximum value was down from an original estimate of a $75 million stock sale last March.
``The market's just not receptive. Nobody's getting decent valuations,'' said Bruce Johnson, chief financial officer of PRWW, eResearch's parent company.
EResearch planned to trade on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol ERES. While pulling the eResearch IPO, PRWW announced plans to change its name to eResearch and trade using the Nasdaq ticker ERES, according to a company press release.
Joseph Esposito, the president and chief executive of eResearch, will become president of the newly named company, PRWW said.
``The switch is to take advantage of our best business,'' said Johnson in an interview today. ``We think it's in our best interest to build the best business under the eResearch name.'' Johnson will be the CFO of the newly named company.
PRWW was formerly Premier Research Worldwide Ltd., which changed its name in April 2000. PRWW shares rose 25 cents to $7 today. The stock has fallen about 8 percent this year. The shares fell 21 percent last year.
Clinical Trials
Philadelphia-based eResearch provides centralized collection and interpretation of electrocardiograms, which are one of the most frequently used tests in clinical trials, according to its original SEC filing. The company also sells its software to the biotechnology and medical device industries.
EResearch reported net income of about $4.8 million on $42.8 million in revenue for 1999, including $16.7 million from the sale of clinical research services.
EResearch's withdrawal of its IPO comes as the Bloomberg IPO index, which tracks the stock performance of newly traded companies, has fallen more than 66 percent since last March. The index has fallen 20 percent over the past two weeks.
PRWW would have owned 67 percent of the company after the offering, or 10 million shares of common stock. Omnicom Group Inc., the world's biggest advertising company, owned 95,000 shares of eResearch's preferred stock through its Communicade Inc. subsidiary.
In its statement today, PRWW said it would buy back its preferred stock from Communicade for $9.5 million ``plus accrued dividends.''
SG Cowen and Prudential Vector Healthcare were to underwrite the stock sale. Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette, along with J.C. Bradford & Co. and DLJdirect Inc. were originally underwriters of the stock sale.
Mar/01/2001 17:36 ET |
