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Print Edition StoriesFriday, November 6, 2009
STR Holdings in IPO after 65 years
By Mass High Tech staff
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Connecticut-based STR Holdings Inc., started as a plastics research and development company in 1944 and now a manufacturer of encapsulants for photovoltaic solar panels, opened an initial public offering yesterday, offering 12.3 million shares priced at $10 per share, or about $123 million.
The shares, being offered through the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol STRI, included 3.3 million shares owned by the company and 9 million held by selling stockholders. The company set the IPO price at $10 after earlier reports had placed the price in a range between $11 and $15. Underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase another 1.8 million shares.
STR, based in Enfield, said the net proceeds from the sale of company-owned shares will be used to pay off debt and fund working capital and general corporate purposes.
The company has been in the solar sector since 1979.
When the company announced plans for the IPO, it said it was the first to produce original ethylene-vinyl-acetate encapsulants used in commercial solar module manufacturing in the 1970s and said that last year sold 2,740 megawatts worth of solar encapsulating material.
The company posted net sales of $117.7 million and net income of $6.3 million in the first six months of this year compared with $136.7 million in net sales and $16 million in net income in the first six months of last year.
STR originally announced plans for a $300 million offering in August of 2008 but later withdrew that filing.
By mid-afternoon, the stock price had climbed to $11.36.
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