AGA Medical up 1 pct in Nasdaq debut

AGA shares started trading at $14.50 and gained 14 cents in early dealings.

AGA priced its Tuesday evening initial public offering at $14.50 a share. Earlier in the day, it lowered the expected price range to between $15 and $16, from $19 to $21.

The company, whose largest shareholder is private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe LP, sold 13.75 million shares and raised $199.4 million. As recently as Monday it had estimated it would raise $275 million.

The number of shares in the IPO was unchanged at 13.75 million. Existing shareholders increased the number of shares they sold to 7.2 million from 5.25 million, while Minnesota-based AGA sold fewer.

The last IPO of a company owned by Welsh, Carson -- an offering last month by hospital operator Select Medical Holdings Corp  -- also priced below range. On Wednesday Select Medical shares were down 2.7 percent from the IPO price.

AGA's lead products, the Amplatzer devices, treat structural heart defects and made up 55.4 percent of AGA sales in the 2009 first half. AGA warned in its prospectus that it was likely to remain dependent on Amplatzer "for the next few years."

The company has other products in development, including vascular grafts.

AGA's first-half sales totaled $94.4 million, with a net loss of $4.2 million.

Welsh, Carson owns 51.7 percent of the company after the IPO. (Reporting by Phil Wahba; editing by John Wallace)