WMGI slides after pricing offering to back Cartiva buyout

Wright Medical (NSDQ:WMGI) shares traded down this morning after it priced an offering it plans to use to fund the $435 million buyout of Cartiva.

Wright said it plans to finance the Cartiva purchase, announced yesterday morning, with an equity offering. Alpharetta, Ga.-based Cartiva makes a synthetic cartilage implant for treating arthritis in the big toe.

Yesterday afternoon Wright said it plans to float nearly 18.3 million shares at $24.60 apiece, for expected net proceeds of $423 million. Underwritten by J.P. Morgan, the offering is slated to close August 30, Memphis-based Wright said.

WMGI shares closed down -4.2% at $26.79 apiece yesterday. In pre-market trading today, the stock was off -4.8% to $25.50 per share.

Cartiva won pre-market approval from the FDA for the SCI implant in July 2016 (the device won CE Mark approval in the European Union back in 2002 and is also on the market in Canada, Brazil, Chile and Australia). It’s made of an organic polymer designed to mimic the function of human cartilage.

Wright forecast a $35 million top-line contribution from Cartiva this year, assuming the purchase closes as expected during the fourth quarter, and $47 million in 2019. The company also raised its sales outlook for the rest of the year, saying that it now expects to post full-year sales, excluding Cartiva, of $812 million to $822 million, up from $808 million to $820 million previously.

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