As the American waistline grows, Weight Watchers International, Inc. has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with a secondary offering of 9 million shares of its common stock. All shares are being sold by Artal Luxembourg S.A., a private European investment company that acquired Weight Watchers International, Inc. in September 1999.
The public offering coincides with a new study by Trust for America’s Health that, according to Center for Disease Contl data, reports obesity is up in every state in the union bar Oregon. Alabama had the largest increase at 27.7%.
For the Weight Watchers offering, the selling shareholder has granted the underwriters of the offering an option to purchase an additional 1.35 million shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, if any. After completion of the offering, Artal and its affiliates will continue to hold approximately a 53.5% ownership interest (or a 52.2% ownership interest if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) in Weight Watchers International, Inc. The Company will not receive any of the proceeds from the offering. The underwriters and joint bookrunners of the offering are Credit Suisse First Boston LLC and UBS Securities LLC.