Harvard Bioscience shares rise on unit's IPO plans

Shares of Harvard Bioscience soar after subsidiary files for IPO

HOLLISTON, Mass. (AP) -- Shares of Harvard Bioscience Inc. soared Wednesday after the medical instruments maker said that one of its subsidiaries filed for an initial public offering of stock.

The division, Harvard Apparatus Regenerative Technology Inc., develops medical devices that are intended to grow organs outside of a body for transplant.

The IPO plans to raise $20 million. There is no set date for the deal.

Harvard Bioscience will still own at least 80 percent of the new company's common stock after its IPO. The Holliston, Mass., company plans to spin off its remaining interest in the Harvard Apparatus business to its own shareholders through a dividend about three months after the IPO.

Shares of Harvard Bioscience rose 51 cents, or 13.5 percent, to $4.30 in midday trading. Over the past 52 weeks, the company's shares have traded between $3.45 and $4.70.