Conatus Pharmaceuticals, a US-based biotechnology company focused on treating liver disease, and whose investors including Roche Finance Ltd, part of the Switzerland-based healthcare company Roche, launched its initial public offering of 6,000,000 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $11 per share, before underwriting discounts on 25 July. Conatus’ stock price closed at $9.5 at the end of its first day of trading, and has continued to trade below the IPO price of $11.
Stifel and Piper Jaffray & Co. acted as joint book-running managers for the offering. JMP Securities acted as co-lead manager and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey acted as co-manager.
The underwriters have been granted a customary 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 900,000 shares of common stock at the same price to cover over-allotments, if any, and the offering had been expected to close on 30 July. However, the IPO has not yet been closed.