Firm Visited by Gore, McGaw Inc., Files With SEC for Stock Offering

McGaw Inc., which received national attention last year when it became a campaign stop for Al Gore, announced Wednesday that it has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of common stock.

The company hopes to sell 11.3 million shares at a price between $10.50 and $12.50 apiece, spokesman Lawrence A. Watts said.

Proceeds from the sale will go toward reducing the company’s $180 million in debt, Watts said.

“It really is an exciting thing,” Watts said. “Here we go.”

The public offering needs SEC approval. When that is given, the stock sale will be held in mid-March, said Bob Krist, chief financial officer.

The company, which had 1992 revenue of $309.4 million, has tapped brokerages Alex. Brown & Sons Inc. in Baltimore, Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp. in New York and Robertson, Stephens & Co., also in New York, to underwrite the offering.

McGaw, based in Irvine, manufactures intravenous solutions and pumps. It was bought by McGaw President James Sweeney two years ago. During his vice presidential campaign, Gore praised the company for making an environmentally safe intravenous bag.

Watts said that the public offering will be “mostly to pay down debt incurred during the buyout. That is basically what we are looking at.”

The company would be left with about $93 million in long-term debt and $5 million in short-term debt, Krist said.