UPDATE 1-Biotech firm Prime Medicine valued at $1.8 bln in strong debut
(Adds IPO details, background)
Oct 20 (Reuters) - Biotechnology firm Prime Medicine notched a valuation of about $1.8 billion in its Nasdaq debut on Thursday, after its shares opened nearly 12% above their offer price.
Shares of the healthtech company started trading at $18.97 apiece, compared to its initial public offering price of $17 each.
The offering comes at a turbulent time for the U.S. market for listings that has come to virtual standstill after a record 2021 amid rapidly rising interest rates, geopolitical tensions and worries of a recession.
Investor sentiment has also been dented by poor performance of shares of companies that made multi-billion dollar entries into public markets last year.
The Renaissance IPO Index, which tracks a basket of companies that recently went public, is down more than 50% so far this year.
Prime Medicine sold 10.3 million shares in its upsized offering, raising $175 million in proceeds priced at $17 apiece, the midpoint of its proposed range of $16 and $18 per share.
J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Jefferies are the underwriters of the offering. (Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
