Dendreon to sell 15 million shares, use proceeds to invest in manufacturing plants

Dendreon to sell 15M shares in public offering

SEATTLE — Biotechnology company Dendreon Corp. said Tuesday it will sell 15 million shares of common stock in a public offering and use the proceeds to fund investments in manufacturing facilities.

The company wants to use the money to speed construction of new facilities in Atlanta and in Orange County, Calif. It is also building out the remaining capacity at its Morris Plains, N.J. facility.

In addition, proceeds will be used to fund investment in information technology infrastructure and product support systems, and to hire manufacturing, sales and marketing, quality and other personnel in preparation for marketing the prostate cancer treatment Provenge.

The company has not yet priced the offering. Underwriters will have a 30-day option to buy up to an additional 2.25 million shares if demand exceeds initial supply.

J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. are joint book-running managers of the offering.

The company currently has about 115.9 million shares outstanding.

Shares of Dendreon fell 17 cents to $26.47 in after-hours trading after falling 43 cents to close at $26.64 during the regular trading session.