BOTHELL – SonoSite Inc. may sell up to $225 million in stock or debt securities over the next three years to finance acquisitions and expand the company.
The maker of hand-carried ultrasound devices revealed its plans in a registration filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company has no debt and reported nearly $98 million in cash and investments at the end of the first quarter.
“This just provides us flexibility,” said Michael Schuh, SonoSite’s chief financial officer. “Now that we have almost $100 million in cash and this registration, we can look at new opportunities.”
Schuh said SonoSite has “nothing on the table at this point” as far as acquisitions. But buying another company could help kickstart SonoSite’s growth. Any potential target would have to make products either similar or complementary to SonoSite’s, he said.
Schuh said Monday’s filing is the first “shelf” registration used by SonoSite since its spinoff in 1998 from ATL Ultrasound.
During the nine years since, SonoSite’s small, portable ultrasound devices have received growing competition from similar devices made by GE Healthcare and other companies. Last week, GE announced it’s suing SonoSite for alleged patent infringement.
In addition to using proceeds from a stock offering or debt financing under the shelf registration for acquisitions, SonoSite said it may also use proceeds for general corporate purposes, including debt repayment, capital expenditures and working capital.
SonoSite shares closed Monday trading at $27.91, up 7 cents.
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
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