Steri-Oss Delays Initial Stock Sale as Market Drops

By BARBARA MARSH

Oct. 31, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

YORBA LINDA —

Steri-Oss Inc. withdrew plans for a $65-million initial public stock offering Thursday following the volatile stock market’s steep tumble this week.

“We made a very difficult decision to postpone until the market is better positioned for our offering,” said Martin Dymek, president of the Yorba Linda-based maker of dental implants.

He said the company isn’t under financial pressure to raise funds and may wait through the first six months of next year to try again.

The company had planned to sell 4.7 million shares, priced in a range of $14 to $16 a share, to raise about $65 million. Proceeds were to go toward paying off debt that financed the company’s spinoff from giant Bausch & Lomb last year.

Dymek returned to Orange County Thursday evening after 3 1/2 weeks of one-on-one meetings with investment managers in major cities across the country.

“It’s been a hectic week, not only for us, but the whole market,” he said.

He said investors expressed interest in the company but seemed distracted through the week by good deals they could get on slumping blue-chip stocks.

“What we wanted most for the shareholders is to get a high value for what we think is a very exciting, high-growth company,” he said.

“The stock market’s drop on Monday put some pricing pressure on our offering,” he said. The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials tumbled 554.26 points, the key indicator’s biggest point loss ever.

Dan Dykens, an analyst with Renaissance Capital, a Greenwich, Conn.-based company specializing in new issues, said analysts are still bullish about Steri-Oss. “As far as we’re concerned, Steri-Oss is a hot company,” he said.

Steri-Oss was hardly alone this week among companies that have gotten nervous about new public stock offerings.

Renaissance, which tracked 15 new issues that were set for sale this week, learned Thursday that underwriters have put off four of the offerings at least temporarily. Besides Steri-Oss, the group includes Dental Care Alliance, a Sarasota, Fla., manager of dental practices; Group One Automotive, a Houston-based owner of auto dealerships and repair shops; and Sterling Cooke Brown, a Bermuda-based workers’ compensation insurer.

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Steri-Oss at a Glance

* Headquarters: Yorba Linda

* Chairman/CEO: Kenneth A. Darienzo

* Business: Designs and manufactures dental implants

* Founded: 1985; purchased in 1993 by Bausch & Lomb and sold in 1996 to its top executives and a private investment fund.

* Employees: 232

* Annual sales: $28 million

IPO DETAILS

* Shares to be offered: 4.7 million at $14-$16 a share

* Proceeds: Hopes to raise about $65 million

* Market: Nasdaq