Private placements flat on lower stocks, higher oil; BJ's Restaurants raises $42.6 million

By Sheri Kasprzak

Atlanta, March 11 - As oil continued to climb and stocks continued to fall, private placement volume remained low to close out the week.

"Stocks were just not strong enough to support good volume today," said one sell-side source. "Once oil prices settle, stocks may stabilize enough so that PIPEs become more appealing to issuers."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 77.15 to close at 10,774.36; the Nasdaq composite index ended down 18.12 to close at 2,041.60 and the S&P 500 dropped 9.17 to close at 1,200.08.

Meanwhile, oil gained $0.89 to close at $54.43 per barrel Friday.

In Canada, strong resources and higher oil allowed for "reasonable" volume, according to sell-siders there.

"I think resources are strong enough to really drive volume right now," said one Canadian sell-sider. "You've got a strong gold market, obviously oil."

Even so, another source said volume isn't what it used to be in Canada.

"Volume is definitely down and has been over the past week," the source said. "There's really nothing in particular to blame for that. It's just off."

Leading private placement news was a $42,625,000 closed offering from BJ's Restaurants Inc.

The company issued 2.75 million shares at $15.50 each.

"The pricing looks good and the stock has responded," said one market source who had seen the deal Friday. "It seems like their plans for expansion helped a bit [with the pricing]."

The closing was announced Friday morning and by the end of the day, BJ's stock had gained $0.53 to close at $17.01.

RBC Capital Markets Inc. and Stephens Inc. were the placement agents in the offering.

"This equity placement will further strengthen our balance sheet and provide us with additional financial resources and flexibility to execute our growth plan during the next several years," said the company's chief executive officer and president Jerry Deitchle in a statement. "We are committed to opening new BJ's Restaurants in both established and new markets in a carefully controlled manner, and we are also committed to operating our restaurants at a gold-standard level for our segment. We believe the next several years should be an exciting period of profitable growth for our company."

Based in Huntington Beach, Calif., BJ's operates 35 casual dining restaurants. It plans to use the proceeds to fund its expansion plan. The remainder will be used for general corporate purposes.

Equinox plans C$8.64 million deal

On Friday morning, Equinox Minerals Ltd. announced its plans to raise C$8,642,340 in a private placement.

The offering includes 14,403,900 shares at C$0.60 each.

The offering is being underwritten by a syndicate led by Sprott Securities Inc.

"It looks like a good deal to me," said one market source in Canada. "In line. It's the sector."

Based in Toronto, Equinox is a mineral exploration company. It plans to use the proceeds for working capital and to fund the company's obligations under its Front End Engineering and Development contract with GRD Minproc Ltd.

On Friday, the company's stock closed up C$0.01 at C$0.60.

Metalex arranges C$3 million offering

Metalex Ventures Ltd. announced its plans to sell stock in a non-brokered private placement for proceeds of up to C$3 million.

The offering includes up to 3 million shares at C$1 each.

"It seems right in line to me," said one market source who had seen the deal Friday. "For some reason, though, their stock is down today. I'm not terribly familiar with the company itself, so it could be something completely unrelated to this offering. From my perspective, the pricing is good."

Based in Kelowna, B.C., Metalex is a diamond mining and exploration company. It plans to use the proceeds to advance its exploration projects.

The company's stock closed down C$0.11 at C$0.90 on Friday.

Royal Standard's C$2.45 million deal

Another mineral exploration company, Royal Standard Minerals Inc., announced an offering of up to C$2.45 million Friday.

The deal includes up to 7 million units at C$0.35 each.

The units are comprised of one share and one half-share warrant. The whole warrants allow for an additional share at C$0.50 each for two years.

"It looks okay," said one market source. "The warrants, as is the case with most deals structured like this, look good."

Canaccord Capital Corp. is the placement agent.

Based in Sparks, Nev., Royal Standard is a gold exploration and development company. It plans to use the proceeds for a surface-drilling program in Nye County, Nevada.

On Friday, Royal Standard's stock closed down C$0.005 at C$0.345.

Victhom loses steam

A day after announcing its plans to raise C$18 million in a private placement of convertible debentures, Victhom Human Bionics Inc.'s stock dipped.

The company closed down C$0.06 at C$1.15 Friday.

On Thursday, when the deal was first announced, the company's stock closed up C$0.03 at C$1.21.

The debentures are convertible into common shares at C$1.45 each.

Based in Quebec City, Victhom develops and commercializes bionic devices aimed at people suffering from physical dysfunctions.

Boston Life remains up

Boston Life Sciences, Inc.'s stock continued to see gains Friday after announcing the completion of a $5 million private placement earlier this week.

The company's stock gained $0.05 to close at $2.31 on Friday after closing up $0.15 Thursday at $2.26.

On Wednesday, when the deal closed, the company's stock gained $0.38 to end at $2.11 and gained another $0.10 in after-hours trading.

The company's stock gained $0.15 Thursday to close at $2.26.

On Wednesday, when the deal was wrapped, the company's stock gained $0.38 to close at $2.11 and gained another $0.10 in after-hours trading.

The company sold shares at $2.50 each.

According to a market source familiar with the offering, the company was able to sell the shares at a substantial premium to market and that has been driving the stock price up over the last two days.

Based in Boston, Boston Life Sciences is a research and clinical development company focused on therapeutic products for the central nervous system.

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