Talecris Biotherapeutics is preparing to move ahead with one of the largest initial public offerings of stock ever by a Triangle company.
The biotechnology company plans to sell 44.7 million shares at $18 to $20 each, according to a regulatory filing submitted late Thursday. At those terms, which could change before the final deal, the company would raise as much as $894 million before expenses.
By filing those details with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Talecris is taking is a crucial step to revive its long-delayed IPO. Company officials still must convince big Wall Street investors to buy its shares and receive SEC approval for the deal.
"They don't put pricing terms out there unless they're ready to put it on the calendar," said John E. Fitzgibbon, owner and publisher of IPOScoop.com, a New Jersey research firm.
The IPO would be a financial boost for Talecris' owners, and any employees who hold stock options. The company employs about 4,700 worldwide, including more than 2,000 at its Research Triangle Park headquarters and at a massive Clayton plant that makes medicines from blood plasma.
Talecris first filed for an IPO in June 2007 but scrapped that plan after it agreed to be bought by an Australian company for $3.1 billion. That acquisition was called off in June after U.S. antitrust regulators sued to block it.
An IPO from Talecris would be an unusual event these days. So far this year, only 21 U.S. companies have successfully gone public, according to Renaissance Capital, an IPO research firm in Greenwich, Conn.
But the stock-market rally since March is rekindling investor interest in IPOs. That's especially true for a company like Talecris, which has real products, revenue and profit, Fitzgibbon said.
In addition to making drugs from blood plasma, Talecris owns a chain of 69 blood-plasma collection centers across the country.
"This isn't a flaky, let's-put-it-up-on-the-board-and-hope-it-goes company," he said. "We're in the market for quality."
In its SEC filing, Talecris reported revenue of $747.4 million during the first six months of this year. That's up 20 percent from the same period last year.
Profit rose to $116.7 million, up from $19 million a year earlier. The latest profit total included a $75 million termination fee from CSL Ltd. of Australia, after the companies' union was canceled.
An IPO also would end a drought for private Triangle companies seeking Wall Street attention. The last IPO for a local company was Raleigh investment firm Triangle Capital in February 2007. Before that, Chapel Hill insurer James River went public in August 2005.
Fitzgibbon expects the IPO will happen in coming weeks, assuming the stock market doesn't crash again.
Talecris' underwriters for the deal include some Wall Street heavy hitters: Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Citi and J.P. Morgan.
Talecris spokeswoman Wendy Wilson couldn't be reached for comment this morning. SEC rules limit what officials at a company preparing an IPO can say.
Assistant Business Editor Alan M. Wolf joined the N&O in 1999 covering the business of health care. He became an editor in 2001, and helps oversee the paper's daily business coverage and Sunday Work&Money section. He lives in Clayton with his wife and two children. Reach him at 919-829-4572 or 
