96.5 F
San Fernando
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
Array

Ceres Inc. Goes Public, Sees Shares Rise 13.85 percent

After delaying its initial public offering for nearly two weeks and cutting its offer price, Thousand-Oaks based Ceres Inc. went public Wednesday and saw its stock price rise nearly 14 percent. The agricultural biotech company–trading on the NASDAQ under the symbol CERE–offered 5 million shares at $13 per share, which would raise $65 million. The company’s stock opened at $14.50 and closed at $14.80. Founded in 1996, Ceres has failed to post a profit since 2007, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It earned $6.6 million in revenue in its fiscal year that ended last August. Underwriters–including Goldman Sachs and Barclays Capital–have options to purchase an additional 750,000 shares. The initial offer price of $13 was the second reduction in recent weeks. On February 8, the company cut its estimated price range to $16 to $17 per share, which it expected would bring in $72.2 million. That was a decline from its earlier estimate of $21 to $23 per share. Ceres says it plans to use the money from its public offering for research and development, seed production and capital expenditures related to production facilities and agricultural equipment. Andrew Khouri

Featured Articles

Related Articles