Chembio halts its $25M stock offering amid stock market volatility
Chembio Diagnostics Inc. of Medford on October 24, 2014. Chembio Diagnostics Inc. said on Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018, that it was restarting the $25 million stock offering it had halted last week because of a stock market declines. Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
Chembio Diagnostics Inc. said Thursday it has halted its $25 million stock offering because of the volatile stock market.
Just Monday, the Medford company announced it had begun the offering. That changed Thursday, following the Dow Jones Industrial Average's more than 600-point drop on Wednesday, erasing all of its gains for the year.
"The determination results from an assessment by the company's management that current equity market conditions are not conducive for an offering on terms that would be in the best interests of the company's stockholders," Chembio said in a statement.
When it announced the start of the stock offering on Monday, Chembio said it planned to use part of the proceeds to fund its proposed acquisition of the German company opTricon GmbH in Berlin. The company's latest news release didn't discuss that deal.
Company officials did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
Chembio manufacturers rapid tests for HIV, syphilis, Zika, Ebola and other tropical diseases.
Chembio closed Thursday at $8.46, up 10.44 percent, or 80 cents.
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