Oct. 2--Talecris Biotherapeutics made a successful debut on Wall Street, with its newly public shares rising 11 percent on the first day of trading Thursday.

The deal raised about $950 million for the company and its owners, and boosted the fortunes of executives and many employees. Talecris plans to spend about $750 million on improvements to its manufacturing facilities and expects to continue adding to its more than 2,000 local employees.

"This IPO enables us to continue a very exciting growth period that supports workers' careers and also allows us to produce more therapies and meet patients' needs," said CEO Lawrence Stern, who will press the opening buzzer at the Nasdaq in New York this morning.

Also this morning, company officials will hold parties at Talecris' Research Triangle Park headquarters, the Clayton plant where it makes medicines from blood plasma and other facilities. Because it is a work day, the refreshments will include sparkling cider, not champagne.

Amid the celebrations, there is a cold dose of reality: Company officials are reviewing where to add production capacity. While Talecris' Clayton campus is one site being considered, officials also are looking at other locations, Stern said.

He emphasized that the Clayton plant, which opened in 1974, isn't in danger, but that expansion could happen elsewhere. A decision is expected in a few months.

"The Clayton facility is the heart and soul of Talecris," Stern said in a short telephone interview Thursday. But officials will weigh many factors, including costs, when picking spots for growth.

For now, Talecris workers, many of whom received a gift of at least 50 shares at the IPO price, toasted the company's success. The stock began trading Thursday around 11 a.m. under the ticker symbol "TLCR." It closed at $21.15, up $2.15.

That came on a day most stocks slumped, with the technology-heavy Nasdaq down 3 percent.

That closing price is a far cry from the record first-day "pop" for a Triangle company about a decade back. Red Hat, the Raleigh software company, went public in August 1999 during the peak of the dot-com boom and saw its stock soar 272 percent on its first day of trading.

Talecris, however, claims other milestones. It is the second-largest IPO from a U.S. company this year.

"When people start buying IPOs again and putting their money in biotech again, that's a really good sign for the health of the market," said Hal Eddins, who helps manage $1.6 billion for Capital Investment Cos. in Raleigh. "People are willing to take risks again, that's a good thing."

And Talecris was the first IPO by a Triangle corporation in more than two years. That could boost confidence at other private, fast-growing local companies itching to go public. The long, dry spell for IPOs has made it harder for those companies to raise the money needed to expand and hire.

"It's very important for the psyche of the Triangle, having a company based here and making it to the public markets with such a significant offering," said Larry Robbins, a lawyer with Wyrick Robbins in Raleigh who advises young technology companies. "There is demand for IPOs, and that sentiment will filter down."

alan.wolf@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4572

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