QT Vascular (IPO)

Medical device maker QT Vascular is aiming to raise $55m in what is so far the largest IPO on Catalist this year. The offer is by way of placement, with 196.4m new shares priced at 28 cents apiece, valuing the loss-making company at $211.6 m upon listing. QT Vascular, which makes balloon catheters in Singapore and California, expects net proceeds of $50.3m. Of that sum, $30.3 m will be used for general working capital, $15m for developing products and $5 m for commercial expansion. The company posted a net loss of US$27.9 m for 9M13, ballooning from the year-ago loss of US$2.9m . According to its prospectus, QT Vascular expects sales to pick up in the coming years. It recently signed a distribution agreement in the US with Cordis, a unit of Johnson & Johnson. Cordis will distribute QT Vascular's Chocolate balloon catheter, which has also been approved for sale here and in Europe, Vietnam and Turkey. The catheter is used for treating clogged arteries that carry blood to the head and limbs, also known as peripheral artery disease. QT Vascular has two other products in the pipeline, for which European approval is expected to be sought this year and in 2015. Applications for the placement shares will close at noon on April 25, and trading is expected to begin four days later. PrimePartners is the manager and sponsor for the deal, and is joint placement agent with UOB Kay Hian.