ATTLEBORO – Sensata Technologies Inc., the former Texas Instruments sensors-and-controls division sold off four years ago, plans to raise as much as $726.8 million in an initial public offering, according to a regulatory filing Friday.
Sensata said it initially expects to sell 31.6 million shares for $18 to $20 each, with an option for its underwriters to buy an additional 4.74 million shares if demand exceeds supply, the company said in a Securities & Exchange Commission filing.
It would be the biggest share sale on a U.S. exchange so far this year, according to Bloomberg data. The lead underwriters are Morgan Stanley, Barclays Capital and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
After the IPO, Sensata’s Dutch parent company, Sensata Technologies Holding B.V., will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “ST.”
For the initial offering of 31.6 million shares, 26.3 million will be sold by Sensata – which could net the company at least $473.4 million before fees and expenses – and 5.3 million will be sold by other shareholders.
Separately, Sensata said Friday it plans to buy back up to $350 million of its debt. The company owed a total of $2.4 billion as of Sept. 30.
Sensata sells sensors and controls under brands such as Airplax and Klixon to customers including Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co.
In 2009, Sensata posted a narrower full-year loss thanks to heavy cost-cutting, with a net loss of $26.99 million, compared with a loss of $134.48 million in 2008. Annual sales fell 20 percent to $1.13 billion.
Founded in 1916, Sensata was part of Texas Instruments from 1959 until April 2006, when it was taken private and renamed by a group led by private-equity firm Bain Capital LLC. (Sensata is Latin for “those gifted with sense.”)
The company has not posted an annual profit since Bain took it over, although its 2009 loss was the smallest so far. Although it leases a 433,000-square-foot facility in Attleboro as its main headquarters, Sensata is registered as a Dutch company and its official corporate headquarters is in Almelo, The Netherlands.
Additional information is available at sensata.com.
