NHL Seeks Initial Offering of Up to 9 Million Shares

National Health Laboratories, a clinical laboratory with headquarters in La Jolla, has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of up to 9 million shares. The offering could generate $126 million, according to documents filed with the SEC.

NHL is owned by Revlon Group, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based cosmetics giant that MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings acquired in January, 1987, for $783 million. NHL plans to use proceeds of its initial public offering to pay back part of a $175-million promissory note that is held by MacAndrews & Forbes, which would still own 91% of the company after the offering, according to the filing.

NHL reported $35 million in net income and $271 million in revenue during 1987, according to the filing.

The company “does the whole round of routine clinical testing,” a MacAndrews & Forbes spokeswoman said Monday. “They handle Pap smears, blood tests, and just about any other kind of routine testing.”

NHL handles testing for doctors, hospitals, clinics and nursing homes in 33 states, including California, Arizona, Michigan, Colorado and New Jersey. The bulk of the company’s revenue comes from 12 states, an NHL spokesman said.

The company has laboratories around the country that can handle as many as 60,000 specimens daily, according to the SEC filing.

Drexel Burnham Lambert has been named the underwriter for the offering.