Retractable Technologies, Inc.
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Safety needle manufacturer's shares begin trading May 4 on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol "RVP," primarily shares offered by selling shareholders. The firm plans to offer up to 2 mil. shares of its own at $15 each later. Up to 5.3 mil. shares are being offered initially by certain selling shareholders in the IPO, without the assistance of an underwriter. Proceeds will be used for expansion of manufacturing operations, R&D, and sales and marketing efforts, as the firm moves to capitalize on revised Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) bloodborne pathogens standards effective April 18 (1"The Gray Sheet" April 23, 2001, p. 13). Little Elm, Texas-based RTI's flagship VanishPoint syringe safety needle line debuted in 1997 and uses a friction ring mechanism for automated retraction of the syringe needle. While the syringe and needle market is dominated by BD (71%), Tyco (22%) and Terumo (7%), RTI has a toehold with 0.25%. Nevertheless, revenues nearly tripled to $9.6 mil. in 2000 versus $3.4 mil. in 1999 with the aid of a May 2000 distribution agreement with Abbott (2"The Gray Sheet" Nov. 13, 2000, p. 19)