Company that makes swallowable camera files for IPO -->
Given Imaging files IPO after FDA OK
And: Barnes & Noble plans IPO for video game retailer
By Steve Gelsi, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 5:11 PM ET Aug. 23, 2001
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Israel-based Given Imaging Ltd. has filed for an initial public
offering three weeks after it got U.S. approval to market a tiny camera to be used in
diagnosing ailments in the human digestive system.
Patients swallow the wireless video
camera-in-a-capsule to give doctors a
close-up view of their small intestine, in
color, as it winds its way through the
body.
The Food and Drug Administration
cleared use of the pill, but only in
conjunction with standard intestinal
exams, in which tubes fitted with
cameras are inserted down the throat.
Given Imaging's capsules are expected
to be available this fall. Each pill costs
about $450 and their use requires a
$20,000 computer workstation.
Given Imaging plans to raise about $81
million by offering 5 million shares,
representing about 20 percent of its total
equity, at a price of $12 to $14 each. It's
filed with Nasdaq to use "GIVN" as its
ticker symbol.
Lehman Brothers and CS First Boston
are lead underwriters for the IPO, along
with Robertson Stephens and Fidelity
Capital Markets.
Although the IPO filing came quickly
after the regulatory move, Given Imaging
has already been on the radar screen of
stock watchers such as the Amidex
Fund (AMDEX: news, chart, profile),
which follows and invests in leading
Israeli technology companies.
A 120-employee company, Given recorded no revenue last year and had a loss of $7.5 million.
It was founded in 1998 by Gavriel Meron, who previously worked at APPLItec Ltd., an Israeli designer
and manufacturer of video cameras and systems for the medical endoscopy market.
Israel's Elron Electronic Industries (ELRN: news, chart, profile) owns a 15 percent interest in Given
Imaging. |
