A Medical Device Daily

Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp; Burlington, North Carolina) reported that it has entered into new senior unsecured credit facilities totaling $1 billion.

The new facilities consist of a five-year revolving facility in the amount of $500 million and a five-year, $500 million term loan facility. LabCorp said that the new facilities will be used for general corporate purposes, including working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, funding of share repurchases and other payments, and repayment of all amounts outstanding under the company's previous revolving credit facility.

On Friday the company borrowed $500 million under the term loan facility, and outstanding letters of credit totaling $110.5 million were extended under the new facilities. The company's previous revolving credit facility was terminated upon the closing of the new facilities.

Credit Suisse will act as administrative agent, sole bookrunner and sole lead arranger for a group of financial institutions in the refinancing.

LabCorp develops new diagnostic technologies.

In other financing activity:

• Lincare (Clearwater, Florida) reported the pricing of $250 million of convertible senior debentures, due 2037, Series A, and $250 million principal amount of convertible senior debentures due 2037, Series B.
  Lincare said it granted the initial buyers an option to buy another $25 million of the Series A debentures and an option to purchase another $25 million of the Series B debentures to cover over-allotments, if any.
  The debentures will pay interest semiannually at 2.75% a year.
  The company said it will use up to about $150 million of the proceeds to acquire shares of its common stock concurrently with the offering, and it may use additional proceeds for further stock repurchases following the offering. It will use the rest of the proceeds for "selective" business acquisitions and general corporate purposes.
  Lincare said it would have the right to redeem the Series A and Series B debentures at any time after Nov. 1, 2012, and Nov. 1, 2014, respectively. Holders of the debentures would have the right to require Lincare to repurchase for cash all or some of their debentures upon the occurrence of certain fundamental change transactions or on certain specified dates.
  Lincare is a provider of respiratory care, infusion therapy and medical equipment to patients in the home.
• Sequenom (San Diego) said it has entered into agreements to issue and sell 3,383,335 shares of its common stock at $9 a share to certain investors.
  The net proceeds of the placement, after deducting placement agents' fees and estimated offering expenses, are expected to be about $28 million. Sequenom said it intends to use the proceeds to advance R&D and commercialization of various diagnostic tests and general corporate purposes.
  Lehman Brothers and UBS Investment Bank served as joint-lead placement agents for Sequenom in the placement, and Oppenheimer, Leerink Swann and Rodman & Renshaw were co-placement agents.
  Sequenom also reaffirmed its previously disclosed guidance for 2007 reported on Aug. 6 in conjunction with its 2Q financial results, which included full year 2007 revenues of $39 million to $41 million, a 37% to 44% increase compared with 2006 revenues, and cash burn of about $16 million.
• Amedisys (Baton Rouge, Louisiana), a home health nursing company, said it has entered into a three-year $100 million unsecured revolving credit facility with a group of banks.
  CIBC World Markets and JP Morgan acted as joint lead arrangers.