Peregrine secures $22.5 million from direct deal; American Dairy wraps $20 million offering

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, June 28 - Yet another biotech name led PIPE news on Thursday. Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced the pending completion of a $22.5 million registered direct placement of its stock.

The placement includes up to 30 million shares at $0.75 each to a group of institutional investors.

Rodman & Renshaw, LLC was the agent for the offering, which is set to close on July 3.

The shares will be sold under the company's shelf registration.

The company's stock gave up a penny and then lost another 9 cents, or 10.6%, in after-hours trading (Nasdaq: PPHM).

Proceeds will be used for research and development, including clinical trials of bavituximab to treat cancer and hepatitis C viral infection. The rest will be used for product and business development infrastructure and for general corporate purposes.

Based in Tustin, Calif., Peregrine develops treatments for cancer and hepatitis C.

In other biotech news, ISTA Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s stock edged up on Thursday, a day after announcing a $36.75 million private placement of stock.

The stock climbed by 4 cents to settle at $7.50 (Nasdaq: ISTA). The stock gained 1.19%, or 14 cents, on Wednesday when the deal was announced to close at $7.46.

In the placement, ISTA agreed to sell shares at $7.00 each to a group of institutional investors on Friday.

Lehman Brothers is the lead agent.

Located in Irvine, Calif., ISTA is a pharmaceutical company focused on developing treatments for conditions like dry eye, vitreous hemorrhage, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and ocular pain.

Volume may taper off

Looking to the coming week, a sellsider said he feels PIPE volume will grind to a halt in the coming week.

"I predict less volume," he said. "People are going to be away; I don't think a lot is going to get done. After next week, things may pick up somewhat, but next week is going to be a wash."

Asked if volume in general has been lower than usual, the sellsider said he didn't feel that it was lower than normal for this time of year.

American Dairy's offering

Moving elsewhere in the PIPE market, American Dairy, Inc. sealed a $20 million placement of guaranteed senior secured convertible notes.

The 1% notes due 2012 are convertible into common shares at $24.00 each, a 24.4% premium to the company's $19.29 closing stock price on Wednesday.

This is the second round of the note offering, the first of which closed for $60 million on June 1.

On Thursday, the company's stock gained 22 cents, or 1.14%, to end at $19.51 (Nasdaq: ADY). In after-hours activity, the stock fell by 20 cents. The placement was announced Thursday morning.

Based in Beijing, American Dairy produces and distributes milk powder and soybean products in China.

TOP Tankers' offering

In other PIPE news, TOP Tankers Inc. concluded a $14.301 million registered direct placement of stock.

The company issued 2.1 million shares at $6.81 each to Sphinx Investment Corp. and Maryport Navigation Corp., two companies connected with shipping investor George Economou.

The shares are being sold under the company's shelf registration.

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. was the placement agent.

The offering was announced Thursday, and the company's stock climbed by 3 cents, or 0.41%, to close at $7.33 (Nasdaq: TOPT). In after-hours trading, the stock gained 2 cents.

Volume was elevated with 869,294 shares, compared with the average 577,174 shares traded.

Proceeds will be used for acquisitions, working capital and general corporate purposes.

"This strategic investment constitutes a vote a confidence in our company and its management," said Evangelos J. Pistiolis, the company's chief executive officer, in a news release.

"We welcome Mr. Economou's valued participation. After the placement, Mr. Economou owns approximately 3.7 million shares of TOP Tankers according to recent filings."

Based in Athens, Greece, TOP Tankers is a crude oil and petroleum products shipping company.

Innovo raises $2 million

In the retail apparel sector, Innovo Group Inc., producer of Joe's Jeans, concluded a $2 million private placement of stock at a 9% discount to market.

News of the deal sent the company's stock jumping 17.56%, or 24 cents, to end at $1.60 and gaining another penny in after-hours trading (Nasdaq: INNO).

The company sold 1.6 million shares at $1.25 each.

The investors, which are entities controlled by William Sweddler and Barry Sternlicht, also received warrants for 480,000 shares, exercisable at $1.36 each.

Proceeds will be used for the growth of the company's Joe's Jeans business.

"The growth of our Joe's business continues to surpass our own internal sales projections and we are anticipating growth of approximately 45% to 50% in our net sales in the second quarter of 2007 versus the second quarter of 2006," said company CEO Marc Crossman in a statement.

"We believe that this additional equity capital from current investors will allow us to keep up with this growth demand that we are experiencing. We are pleased to have the continued support of these investors who have taken a larger stake in our company. The funds will strengthen our balance sheet and enable us to continue our expansion as we grow the Joe's Jeans brand."

Based in Los Angeles, Innovo is an apparel retailer.

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