ANTs not planning beyond $7.5 million fundraiser; Prana gets A$7 million; AFC, Kopane sell stock

By Kenneth Lim

Boston, May 21 - ANTs Software, Inc. said it does not expect to raise additional capital soon after it completed a $7.5 million stock placement.

Prana Biotechnology Ltd. said it raised A$7 million in a private stock placement that it will use to boost its research and development work.

Meanwhile, AFC Energy plc said its £4.4 million financing will help it to pursue opportunities in the chlorine industry.

ANTs done for now

ANTs Software said it raised $7.5 million since March through a private stock placement.

The company sold restricted common shares at $0.60 each. ANTs common stock (OTCBB: ANTS) slipped 1.74% or $0.02 to close at $1.13 on Wednesday.

ANTs, a Burlingame, Calif.-based developer of database management software, said it will use the proceeds to finalize its acquisition of Inventa Technologies, Inc. and for general working purposes, which include research and development, customer support, marketing and sales.

"This financing gives us the funds to complete the acquisition of Inventa and provides the working capital needed to continue development and marketing of the ANTs compatibility server," ANTs chairman and chief executive Joseph Kozak said in a statement. "The ANTs compatibility server provides enterprises and database vendors with a fast, cost-effective method to move applications from one database to another - and enables end-users to achieve cost efficiencies by consolidating their applications onto fewer databases."

ANTs executive vice president and chief financial officer Ken Ruotolo told Prospect News that the placement was a "straightforward" deal.

The buyers in the placement were individuals, Ruotolo said.

"They're accredited individual investors," he said. "The majority are existing or prior investors, but there are also some new ones."

The pricing of the deal was set back in March when the discount to market was not as large, Ruotolo said.

"Were we satisfied? Well, we set the pricing of the offering and we went out to the market and got subscribers," he said.

"It was priced at a discount to the market, and we have done similar placements in the past and this one was right in line with our previous deals. Keep in mind that we priced this in March, at which point the stock wasn't where it is today. The discount was significantly less than it would appear to be now."

ANTs common stock traded between $0.87 and $1.14 in March.

The company chose not to take on additional debt because it had recently issued notes, Ruotolo said.

"We didn't feel that debt was appropriate for us at this time," he said. "We had done debt before, convertible notes in 2007, and we felt that we had done enough and we did not want to add to our debt at this time."

ANTs is unlikely to raise money soon, he said.

"We have no plans for that," Ruotolo said.

Prana raises for R&D

Prana Biotechnology said it raised A$7 million through a private stock placement that will help to fund its research work.

Prana, a Melbourne, Australia-based biopharmaceutical company that focuses on neurodegenerative disorder treatments, said it sold shares at A$0.40 apiece. Prana common stock (ASX: PBT) closed at A$0.40 on Wednesday, unchanged from its previous close.

The company said it will use the proceeds to develop its pipeline of treatments for Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's and Huntington's disease.

"The funds will allow us to boost our R&D activities," Prana chairman and chief executive Geoffrey Kempler said in a statement. "We are particularly gratified by the increased confidence shown by these investors, who previously invested approximately six months ago at a value almost 50% below today's level. Since then we have achieved key milestones, including a successful Phase 2a clinical trial of PBT2 and commencement of commercial discussions, as well as the widening of our pipeline opportunities into different indications."

Kempler said Prana is currently seeking a strategic partnership for its lead Alzheimer's treatment, PBT2.

"We are progressing discussions with potential pharmaceutical partners and are confident that PBT2, our lead drug for Alzheimer's disease, offers a very attractive opportunity," Kempler stated. "A strategic partnership is one way that we can achieve our central goal of advancing the commercialization of PBT2."

AFC seeks new opportunities

AFC said it sold £4.4 of shares in a private placement.

The company sold 40 million ordinary shares at 11p apiece. AFC common stock (AIM: AFC) rose 6.52% or 0.75p to close at 12.25p on Wednesday.

AFC, a Surrey, England-based fuel cell company that is developing technology to generate clean electricity from by-product hydrogen, said it will use the proceeds to fund energy systems at Akzo Nobel's Bitterfeld site in Germany and to develop a 50kW system, as well as for the establishment of manufacturing processes and supply chains with third parties with the opening up of additional sales opportunities.

"Taking the fuel cell to the energy source to avoid many of the costs and infrastructure problems of moving hydrogen is at the heart of the company's strategy," AFC chief executive Gerard Sauer said in a press release.

"The support shown by new and existing shareholders in AFC Energy is very encouraging. The chlorine industry, which is familiar with our type of technology, remains a very important market for AFC Energy; the chlorine industry offers significant amounts of hydrogen currently being vented and lost into the atmosphere. The funds we have raised will help us to maximize the opportunities we have identified in this and other potentially lucrative markets."

Kopane raises £7 million

Kopane Diamonds Developments plc said it is selling £7 million of shares in a private placement that will be placed through Canaccord Adams.

The deal involves 70 million ordinary shares at 10p apiece. Kopane common stock (AIM: KDD) slipped 1.28% or 0.125p to close at 9.625p on Wednesday.

Of the shares offered, 19.7 million have already been sold to HSBC Principal Investments for £1.97 million. HSBC may elect to buy more of the remaining 50.3 million shares.

Proceeds will be used to finance the remaining costs of the company's definitive feasibility study and environmental and social impact assessment of the group's Main Pipe project in Lesotho and for general working capital purposes.

London-based Kopane Diamonds is a diamond exploration, production and development company.

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