Lilly's Elanco animal health unit's IPO priced at $24/share
By Diptendu Lahiri and Manas Mishra
Sept 19 (Reuters) - The initial public offering of Eli Lilly Co's animal health unit, Elanco, was priced above the expected range at $24 per share on Wednesday, giving the company a market capitalization of $8.55 billion.
Elanco raised $1.51 billion from the IPO of 62.9 million shares. The offering was expected to be priced between $20 and $23 per share.
Lilly, which sold only a minority stake in the IPO, announced the separation of the unit in July following a nine-month review.
David Ricks, chief executive officer of Lilly, has steered the Indiana-based drugmaker's efforts to take the animal health unit public at a time when it is looking beyond the failure of its experimental Alzheimer's drug and pushing deeper into cancer treatments.
Elanco, which is the fourth-largest animal health company by revenue globally, sells medicines for pet animals, as well as livestock.
The global animal healthcare market is expected to grow 5 percent annually to $53.42 billion by 2025, according to data firm Research and Markets, making it an attractive destination for investors.
Shares in market leader Zoetis Inc have tripled in value since Pfizer Inc took it public five years ago. The company currently has a market capitalization of about $40 billion. (Reporting by Diptendu Lahiri and Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Sweta Singh and Maju Samuel)
