Local company's stock takes first day hit
By: Staff and Wire Reports - CARLSBAD ---- Alphatec Holdings Inc. watched its stock decline on the first day of trading Friday. The Carlsbad-based medical device company opened at $9 a share on the Nasdaq Stock Market and closed 38 cents down, or 4.2 percent, to $8.62. | ∞
Investment officials thought the 9.3 million shares sold as part of Alphatec's initial public offering would sell between $13 to $15 per share, but medical equipment companies haven't been popular with investors this year.
Alphatec is the parent company of two, smaller firms that manufacture surgical equipment for spine and back problems, such as screws and rods used to fuse spinal vertibrae. Surgeons fuse vertibrae during certain spinal surguries to limit movement and decrease discomfort for back ailment sufferers.
Even with the lower closing price, the initial stock sale was projected to earn the company $71.4 million.
Alphatec Chief Executive Officer Ronald Hiscock said the company planned to use the money to expand its product market in the United States and Asia. One of the company's firms is located in Japan.
"It (the stock sale) symbolizes the next stage of our growth," Hiscock said.
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