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Nycomed plans Nasdaq IPO
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August 7, 2000: 6:46 a.m. ET
Nycomed's APBiotech valued at up to $6 billion; profit rises 13%
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Anglo-Norwegian healthcare firm Nycomed Amersham PLC said Monday it plans to float 10 percent of its jointly-owned life sciences business on the U.S. Nasdaq market by the end of 2000, to take advantage of investor interest in genomics.
Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, which is 55 percent owned by Nycomed and 45 percent by U.S. drug maker Pharmacia Corp. (PHA: Research, Estimates), makes sequencing machines used in mapping the human genome and is valued by analysts at between $4 billion and $6 billion.
The world's No.1 maker of diagnostic imaging products also said first-half net profit rose 3.3 percent to £62.6 million ($94 million), or 10.5 pence a share, from £60.6 million, or 10 pence, in the year-earlier period. Pre-tax profit rose 13 percent to £110.4 million, in line with expectations. Sales rose 8.7 percent to £652.6 million.
 The flotation will clarify the value of APBiotech's exposure to the genomics revolution and its position as a key supplier of enabling technology in the race to interpret the human genetic code. Nycomed will retain management control.
News of the flotation had been widely expected and analysts said the stock market had already priced in the flotation. Shares tumbled 46 pence, or 6.6 percent, to 654.5 pence in early trade.
Erica Whittaker of Merrill Lynch downgraded her recommendation from "accumulate" to "neutral" and said less than a quarter of APBiotech's sales were genomics-based. The balance of the revenues come from slower-growing business segments.
Nycomed Chief Executive Sir Bill Castell, who will also chair APBiotech, said Nycomed would use revenues from the IPO to invest in new technology platforms in both its life sciences and other businesses. 
--from staff and wire reports
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Nycomed Amersham
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