Homedco Will Make Public Offering

Homedco Group Inc., a medical company that provides home respiratory care, said Thursday that it plans to raise between $51.8 million and $59.2 million by selling stock to the public for the first time.

The company will offer 3.7 million shares to the public at a price of $14 to $16 each, said Karen Thomsen, a company spokeswoman.

She said the money will be used to repay loans and to buy back outstanding stock. The company has filed a registration statement for the offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company serves patients in 35 states and has 112 branch offices. It posted sales of $194 million for its fiscal 1990 year, which ended Sept. 30, Thomsen said.

She said Homedco provides equipment like hospital beds, wheelchairs, oxygen tanks and intravenous drips for patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis and neurologically related respiratory problems.

The timing of Homedco’s public offering might not be the best, said Larry Selwitz, a health-care analyst with Cruttenden & Co., a Newport Beach securities firm.

“The market is beginning to look a little weak again. Some stocks are coming back down off their high,” he said. “There are such things as windows of opportunity in this business, and if you miss it, it could be a problem.”

He said several companies in the home health-care business put plans for an initial public offering on hold last fall when the market softened.

The lead underwriters for the offering are Robertson Stephens & Co. in San Francisco and Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co. in New York.