Neose Technologies secures $43.3 million from unit offering; Equicap pockets $12 million from stock sale

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, March 9 - Neose Technologies, Inc. rounded out the week in PIPEs announcing the pending completion of a $43,299,602 private placement.

The offering sent the company's stock down more than 3.5% on Friday, but the stock made some gains in after-hours activity.

Neose plans to sell to a group of institutional investors and investment funds 21,435,447 units of one share and one warrant at $2.02 each. The warrants associated with the offering are exercisable at $1.96 each for five years.

The stock gave up 7 cents, or 3.58%, to close at $1.89 but gained more than 3 cents in after-hours trading (Nasdaq: NTEC).

Proceeds will be used for the company's NE-180 development program for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced anemia and anemia associated with chronic renal failure. The rest will be used for general corporate purposes.

The placement is scheduled to close Tuesday.

Based in Horsham, Pa., Neose develops protein drugs.

Meanwhile, in the broader market, sellsiders on Friday said they expect PIPE volume to pick up again in the coming week after a dive in the stock market a week ago dampened activity this past week.

"Things are getting better and better," said one New York-based market source. "By early next week, we'll be cranking things out left and right. When you have a big drop like that, issuers are going to get scared away, but the [stock] market is slowly creeping back up again."

Another sellsider on the West Coast agreed.

"No, it's not a trend," he said of the lighter volume in light of the market drop. "It's a temporary lapse brought on by news. [There's] nothing to it."

Equicap raises $12 million

Elsewhere in the PIPE market Friday, Equicap, Inc. completed a $12 million private placement of stock connected to its acquisition of Usunco Automotive Ltd.

The company issued 8,450,704 shares at $1.42 each.

vFinance Investments, Inc. was the placement agent.

The offering was conducted as part of the company's share exchange transaction with Usunco. The company exchanged 18,323,944 shares of its stock for all of the outstanding shares of Usunco.

Usunco is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Equicap, and Equicap will operate as an automotive parts distributor.

Equicap, based in Frederick, Md., did not have any significant operations prior to its acquisition of Usunco. Its stock last traded at $1.25 on Nov. 28 (OTCBB: EQPI).

Constellation Energy stock up

A day after closing a $60 million private placement of limited partnership units, Constellation Energy Partners LLC's stock climbed by more than 8.6%.

The company's stock gained $2.46, or 8.62%, to finish the week at $31.00 (NYSE: CEP).

In the placement, the company sold limited partnership units at $26.12 each and class E limited partnership units at $25.84 each to GPS Partners LLC, Lehman Brothers MLP Partners LP and ZLP Fund LP. The class E units will convert into common units upon holder approval.

Proceeds will be used to partially fund the company's acquisition of EnergyQuest Resources LP for $115 million. The rest of the purchase price will be paid from the company's existing revolving credit facility.

Constellation, based in Baltimore, acquires, develops and produces oil and natural gas properties and midstream assets.

In other energy-related offerings, TriStar Oil & Gas Ltd. said it plans to raise up to C$50 million in a private placement of subscription receipts and flow-through shares.

The offering comes even as oil prices dipped $1.59 to close Friday at $60.05 per barrel.

The deal is being conducted as part of TriStar's plans to acquire assets in the Ante Creek and Countess areas of Alberta and in southeastern Saskatchewan for a total price of C$55.7 million.

The placement includes up to 8.6 million receipts at C$4.70 each and up to 1.7 million flow-through shares at C$6.00 each.

The receipt portion of the deal is expected to close March 29 and the flow-through portion on March 19.

Proceeds from the receipt portion of the deal will be held in escrow until the acquisition is completed, and at that time, the receipts will be exchanged on a one-for-one basis for common shares.

TriStar, based in Calgary, Alta., is an oil and natural gas exploration company. On Friday, the company's stock fell 16 cents to settle at C$4.75 (Toronto: TOG).

Novint wraps $9 million deal

Moving to the tech sector, Novint Technologies, Inc. sealed a $9 million private placement of 9 million units.

The units include one share and one warrant and were sold to 42 accredited investors. Each warrant is exercisable at $1.50 for five years.

Novint said it may sell another 1 million units to a strategic investor.

Proceeds will be used for working capital.

"This is an enormous milestone for Novint," said Tom Anderson, the company's chief executive officer, in a statement. "We have just received our first shipment of Novint Falcons from our manufacturing line in China and are previewing many of our 3-D touch games at a leading industry even this week.

"Now, having closed this funding round, we have the resources to take these products to market, create many more powerful games and introduce to the world an entirely new field of computing. It is my hope, and I think realistic, that this round will take us to profitability."

The stock gained 2%, or 3 cents, to close at $1.28 (OTCBB: NVNT).

Based in Albuquerque, Novint develops 3-D computing technologies.

Euronet stock climbs

In secondary market activity, Euronet Worldwide, Inc.'s stock gained 0.61% on Friday, a day after the company announced a $159,363,200 private placement.

The company's stock gained 16 cents to end the session at $26.31 (Nasdaq: EEFT). On Thursday, the company's stock fell 3.54%, or 96 cents, to settle at $26.15 and lost another 4 cents in after-hours trading activity.

In the placement, Euronet plans to sell shares at $25.00 each to a group of institutional investors.

Banc of America Securities LLC is the placement agent.

Proceeds will be used for acquisitions and general corporate purposes. The company is considering an acquisition target that would represent a significant acquisition for the company, according to a statement released Thursday.

Based in Leawood, Kan., Euronet is an electronic transaction processing services company.

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