In its preliminary prospectus filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, specialty drugmaker Aptalis Holdings Inc revealed plans to offer common stock for sale in a planned initial public offering. The firm, which is owned by private equity firm TPG Capital LP, intended to raise up to $500 million in the share sale.
Aptalis has been providing the pharmaceutical market with medicine focused on cystic fibrosis and gastrointestinal diseases.

A Bloomberg report said the figure in the prospectus is just a placeholder to calculate fees and could be subject to change. Aptalis filing said the IPO's purpose was to raise money to repay its debts and provide an opportunity for some of its existing stockholders to exit from some of its holdings via the share sale. Currently, the pharmaceutical company's largest shareholder has a 91% equity in the firm.

When TPG agreed to acquire Aptalis for $1.3 billion in November 2007, the pharmaceutical company changed its name to Axcan Pharma Inc. Currently based in Bridgewater, New Jersey, its sales had climbed 12% to $687.9 million in the year through September as compared to the year before, Bloomberg said in its report. Aptalis' profits was also a significant milestone, incurring a profit of $86.9 million for the year as compared to its loss the previous year.

Aptalis' largest products in terms of sales were Zenpep and Carafate. Zenpep has treated patients with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, or a disease that prohibits the body from absorbing nutrients from food intake. Carafate on the other hand is used to treat patients with ulcer.

The filing also revealed that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co were tapped as co-managers of the share sale. Aptalis, the filing also disclosed, was said to have applied to get listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker name "APTA."