Shares Fall as Prudential Prices Offering

On Monday, Prudential Financial(PRU Quote)turned its back on government bailout money, announcing that it would go it alone and use a public offering to raise the funds needed to shore up its financial position.

This morning, Prudential followed through.

The Newark-based financial services and insurance shop priced its stock offering at $39 per share. With a little more than 32 million shares being put in play, Prudential expects about $1.2 billion in net proceeds. Underwriters also have a 30-day option for an additional 4.8 million shares. The offering is expected to close on June 8.

A release announcing the offering said the company plans to use the proceeds "for general corporate purposes, which may include contributions of capital to its insurance and other subsidiaries and the repayment of short-term borrowings or other debt, or for potential strategic initiatives."

According to Bloomberg, since the subprime spiral began in 2007, Prudential has seen more than $11 billion in unrealized losses and write downs.

Citigroup(C Quote) and Goldman Sachs(GS Quote) are the lead underwriters for the offering.

It was reported yesterday that Prudential sold $1 billion in notes in a two-part sale.

Yesterday, shares of the company closed at $41.70. This morning, Prudential was changing hands in negative territory, down nearly 2%, or 74 cents, to $40.96.