Schering-Plough sells nearly $3.9 bln securities
NEW YORK, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Schering-Plough Corp SGP.N, whose products include the Zetia and Vytorin cholesterol drugs, on Thursday said it priced nearly $3.9 billion of securities offerings to help fund a big acquisition.
The Kenilworth, New Jersey-based company said it priced an offering of $1.38 billion of common stock, comprising 50 million shares at $27.50 each. It said it also priced $2.5 billion of convertible preferred stock carrying a 6 percent dividend, comprising 10 million shares at $250 each.
Schering-Plough said net proceeds will total about $3.8 billion. The company has said it intends to use these to fund part of its 11 billion euro (US$15 billion) acquisition of Organon BioSciences, the human and animal health care businesses of Akzo Nobel NV (AKZO.AS).
Schering-Plough said it may offer another 7.5 million common shares and 1.5 million convertible shares to meet demand. It said Goldman Sachs & Co. coordinated the offerings, while Banc of America Securities, Bear Stearns & Co., Citigroup and Morgan Stanley were joint bookrunners. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel)
