A Diagnostics & Imaging Week

Sequenom (San Diego) reported that the underwriters of its previously announced common stock offering that priced on June 25 have exercised in full an option to purchase an additional 825,000 shares of its common stock.

Including the additional shares being purchased, the offering will total 6,325,000 shares at a price of $15.50 a share, resulting in net proceeds to Sequenom of nearly $92 million after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other expenses.

Sequenom expects to use the proceeds from the offering for the development of diagnostic tests for use on its MassArray system and other platforms, and for general corporate purposes. The closing for this sale of additional shares is scheduled to take place on or about July 8, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

Lehman Brothers and UBS Investment Bank are joint book-running managers in this offering. Co-managers are Leerink Swann & Co., Lazard Capital Markets, Oppenheimer & Co. and Rodman & Renshaw.

In other financing news, NightHawk Radiology Holdings (Coeur D'Alene, Idaho), a provider of radiology solutions to radiology groups and hospitals throughout the U.S., said its board has authorized up to $10 million of share repurchases of its common stock.

NightHawk's CEO and chairman, Paul Berger, said the board believes that repurchasing shares in the current marketplace represents a good investment for the company and that the stock repurchase program will help enhance long-term shareholder value.