SPOs, Athenahealth, healthcare

Athenahealth Pulls Secondary Public Offering; No Jets for the Weary?

Robert Buderi 2/1/08

Talk about timing. On the very day we post the IPO advice of Athenahealth CEO Jonathan Bush, Jr.—in an article that happens to mention the current tough economic climate for IPOs—Athenahealth (NASDAQ:ATHN) announces it is shelving its plans for a secondary public offering. And, you guessed it, the company is citing the current tough economic climate.

Athenahealth announced its SPO, under which the company and selling shareholders that included Oak Investment Partners and Cardinal Partners planned to offer just over 3 million common shares, back in early January. But on the heels of recent decisions by both BG Medicine and Elixir Pharmaceuticals to postpone their IPOs, it is hardly a surprise to see the economic foul weather extending into the secondary market.

Be sure to check out Bush’s IPO pearls of wisdom—you’ll see what I mean when I say I guess he won’t be getting out of his lockup early, and he won’t be taking any cool jet rides with investment bankers and their “really nice scotch” anytime soon. In late afternoon trading, though, Athenahealth’s stock was on a nice little ride of its own, up $1.67, or just over 5 percent, at $33.07.