Otter Tail Secondary Comes To Roost (OTTR)

Otter Tail Corp. (NASDAQ: OTTR) is trading lower this morning after pricing its secondary offering.  The proposed 5 million share offering came in at 4.5 million shares. It also priced at $30 after closing at $33. last night.  Shares have also been hit hard as its 52-week trading range is $31.28 to $46.15.

You might  be shocked at the size of the underwriting groupfor an offering of this size.  Merrill Lynch is the sole book-runner.Joint lead managers are R.W. Baird and JPMorgan.  Co-managers arelisted as Banc of America, Wells Fargo, and KeyBanc Capital.

The last 5 days have been rough on the company.  Last Friday, this was a$40 stock.  But an earnings warning and an announcement it was goingto raise cash took care of the bullish hopes.  That is part ofthe reason for the discount to the close.

This was a former cult stock which was given positive mention by Jim Cramer on CNBC during the wind power demand craze.  This is also a personal holding of Bill Gates.

So far shares are down almost 5% at $31.30 in early pre-market trading.

Jon C. Ogg
September 19, 2008