Alliance Raises Funds in Controlling Firm’s IPO

Alliance Imaging Inc., an Anaheim medical diagnostics company, said Thursday it raised $121.9 million in a public stock offering by buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

The initial public offering of 9.38 million shares, the latest in a parade of health care IPOs, was priced at $13 a share, lower than a previously disclosed range of $15 to $17.

Alliance is controlled by New York-based KKR, which will hold 65% of the company, with Kohlberg Kravis founders Henry Kravis and George Roberts retaining board seats.

At an offering price of $16 a share, KKR would have been in for a paper gain of $365 million over its original investment, according to regulatory filings. KKR is not selling any shares in the offering.

Proceeds will be used to pay debt of $770 million, largely incurred when KKR purchased a majority stake in Alliance from Apollo Group, another large private equity group, in November 1999. Apollo previously took the company private.