Meridian Bioscience files SEC document to sell shares

Diagnostic testing company Meridian Bioscience (NASDAQ:VIVO) has filed a regulatory document that gives it the right to sell additional common and preferred shares.

The document didn’t specify a dollar amount or number of shares the company could sell, or a date by which the company would make the sale.

However, the document notes that Meridian is authorized to sell up to 71 million shares of common stock and that the company currently has about 41 million shares of common stock outstanding.

Similarly, the company is authorized to sell up to 1 million shares of preferred stock, but has issued none, according to the document.

The document also gives Meridian the right to exercise other financing options, including issuing debt and warrants.

By filing registration statements like this one (known in Securities and Exchange Commission parlance as a form S-3), companies can go through the securities-registration process before they actually issue any new shares, which allows them to more quickly pull the trigger once they decide to do the offering. Filing the statement doesn’t mean the company is obligated to eventually sell the shares, however.

Meridian expects to use the proceeds from any sale for “general corporate purposes,” which may include repaying outstanding debt, according to the document.

CFO Melissa Lueke didn’t immediately return a call.

Earlier this month, Meridian said it plans to launch up to four new tests from its illumigene molecular diagnostic testing platform over the next year.