On Oct. 12, 2010, HaloSource completed its IPO on the London Stock Exchange and raised $50 million in gross proceeds. HaloSource was founded in 1989 as Vanson Chemical Co by Joel Van Ornum and Lee Johnson in Redmond. The company made the active ingredient – chitosan – in the LipoSan Ultra dietary supplement and 3M’s bacteria-blocking sponges, as well as its own Sea-Klear brand water treatment product. In 2002, Vanson merged with Seattle-based HaloSource Corp. to create Vanson HaloSource.

The company said it received about $50 million in gross proceeds from the offering, while certain selling shareholders placed shares with institutional investors at 135 pence apiece, raising $30 million. China-focused private equity firm Origo Partners , which had a 15.4 percent stake in HaloSource prior to the placing, said it sold about 60 percent of its stake in the company for $11 million.

HaloSource, which has manufacturing facilities in the United States, India, Pakistan and China, said it planned to use the funds for expansion, including the construction of manufacturing plants for its drinking water purification HaloPure business. The company’s market capitalisation would be 100 million pounds or $158 million and it would have 73.8 million shares in issue at the time of admission, Seattle-based HaloSource said.