FHP of Fountain Valley Proposes Sale of 4.5 Million Stock Shares

FHP International Corp., a health-maintenance organization, filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday for a proposed public offering of 4.5 million shares of common stock, company officials said.

The offering price will depend on FHP’s stock price on the day of the sale. At its Tuesday closing price of $24.50 a share, the company would raise about $89.5 million from the sale after underwriting and other costs of the transaction are subtracted.

The stock sale is scheduled for the first week of May and will include about 3.8 million shares of company-issued stock and 675,000 shares held by private shareholders. Half a million of those shares will be sold by company founder Robert Gumbiner, reducing his stake in the company from 9.7% to 7%.

FHP, which provides managed health care in California, the Southwest and Guam, plans to use the proceeds of the stock issue for general corporate purposes, including capital expenditures and to finance a possible expansion, the company said.

FHP said, however, that it has no current plans to purchase other HMOs or similar businesses.