Health Centers for Women Sets Stock Offering

Three-year-old Women’s Health Centers of America on Tuesday said it has filed a $3.6-million initial stock offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission and plans to use the proceeds to open seven new comprehensive health services centers designed for women in the next 18 months.

The company, with only one center now in operation, will also use the proceeds to pay down $400,000 in bank debt and $275,000 in other liabilities.

The expansion will cost about $1.75 million, according to the preliminary prospectus.

Delivery of the common stock, tentatively priced at $6 per share for 600,000 shares, is expected in April.

Women’s Health Centers first filed an initial offering in February, 1984, for 700,000 shares for between $5 and $6 per share, but was delayed because of “unfavorable market conditions.” The underwriter at that time was R.G. Dickinson; the underwriter for the current filing is San Diego-based First Affiliated Securities.

Among the directors is John Pappajohn, the Iowa-based venture capitalist who has taken a handful of other San Diego companies public, including Thermal Energy Storage Systems, Infrasonics, Medical Imaging Centers of America and Pancretec.

Pappajohn owns about 8.6% of Women’s Health Centers common stock.

The directors purchased the majority of their shares for 28 cents per share.

Largest shareholder is Ronald Meadows, with 13.9%. Meadows, a former executive with Technicare Corp., a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, is the company’s president and chief executive.