Barrier Therapeutics plans $31.9 million in registered direct stock; Triton sells C$4 million in stock placement

By LLuvia Mares

New York, Sept. 24 -Strong market activity in the PIPEs sector over recent sessions is expected to continue this week, specifically in international deals.

On Monday, Barrier Therapeutics, Inc. made PIPEs headlines after announcing it plans to raise $31.9 million in a registered direct offering of stock.

Anne M. VanLent, Barrier Therapeutics executive vice president and chief executive officer, said investors looking to put money into the company are making the right choice.

"We are a unique specialty pharmaceutical company in that we have products currently in the market with increasing revenue - we have given guidance this year, that we will have revenues of $20 to $25 million," said VanLent.

VaLent said this is the first year the company has had their first two products on the market.

Barrier plans to sell 5.5 million shares of stock at $5.75 each to a select group of institutional investors. Its stock (Nasdaq: BTRX) closed at $6.13 on Sept. 24, down, $0.31 from the $6.44 close on Friday, when the deal priced.

"We are actively looking to in license products to add to our portfolio as well as to partner some of the pipeline assets we have under development," she said.

"We have a broad and deep pipeline of therapeutic agents that address major categories of disease and dermatology. Most of these are oral therapies that have historically been the high revenue generators in prescription dermatology," VaLent added.

"Oral treatments versus topical treatments have historically had a higher revenue potential. So we believe that we are a very unique value story in dermatology because of this blend of near term revenues and very deep and exciting pipelines."

J. P. Morgan Securities Inc. was the placement agent.

The deal will close Sept. 26 and is subject to customary closing conditions.

Proceeds will be used for research, development, commercialization expenses and general corporate purposes.

Princeton, N.J.-based Barrier Therapeutics is a pharmaceutical company specializing in developing and commercializing products in the field of dermatology.

Triton Energy takes in C$4 million in private placement of stock

Before Triton Energy Corp. entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters led by Acumen Capital Finance Partners Ltd., Canaccord Capital Corp. and CIBC World Markets Inc. for a C$4 million private placement of shares, Michael S. Zuber, Triton president and CEO said the company did its homework on whether the financing was the most cost effective and timely.

The company (TSX Venture: TEZ) ($0.60 at close Sept. 24) sold 5,555,556 flow-through common shares at C$0.72 apiece.

Settlement is expected around Oct. 16.

Proceeds will be used for exploration.

"We are a fast growing company that is currently trading below their asset value with lots of drilling opportunities ahead of us," said Zuber. "We have a great technical and management team."

Triton is an oil and natural gas company based in Calgary, Alta.

Transmeta stock drops

Just three days after Transmeta Corp. announced it was offering $12.8 million of units in a direct placement, the company saw a slight 2.09% drop in stock.

Transmeta closed out the day at $6.08 ($6.21 at close Sept. 21).

The company (Nasdaq: TMTA) offered a group of institutional investors up to two million units consisting of one share at $6.40 each and half a warrant with an exercise price of $9.00 each. The deal is expected to close on Sept. 26.

A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. acted as placement agent for the offering.

Transmeta will use the proceeds to meet its working capital requirements and fund its operations.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Transmeta develops computing, microprocessor, semiconductor technologies and related intellectual property.

Hartville stock rising

After announcing it raised $2 million in private placement of discounted secured convertible debentures and warrants, Hartville Group, Inc. saw stock increase 11.11%.

The company (OTCBB: HTVL) ended the day at $0.10 compared to Friday's $0.09 close.

Hartville issued $2.53 million principal amount of the debentures and warrants for 16,877,638 shares to some existing shareholders of the company.

"We are very pleased to have obtained this financing from existing shareholders, as it demonstrates their continued confidence in our growth strategy and our ability to execute these plans. As we announced in August, as of June 30, 2007, we had increased our total number of pets insured by approximately 100% versus the previous year, from 26,055 as of June 30, 2006 to 50,368 as of June 30, 2007," said Dennis Rushovich, Hartville chief executive officer, in a press release. "The additional capital we have just received will provide us with resources to continue consistent additions of pets to our policy base."

The debentures mature in September 2010.

Of the principal amount, $531,645.50 is allocated to prepaid interest equal to 7% per year.

The debentures will be convertible at $0.15 per share.

The investors also received warrants for 16,877,638 shares, exercisable at $0.15 per share for four years.

Based in Canton, Ohio, Hartville Group is a pet insurance company.

Marengo raises A$15 million in private placement of stock

In other news, Marengo Mining Ltd. announced it has completed a A$15 million private placement of shares.

In the first tranche, the company (ASX: MGO, A$0.305 at close Sept. 21) sold 15,277,777 shares to Paradigm Capital Inc. at A$0.36 each on Aug. 15, raising A$5.5 million. The second and third non-brokered tranches consisted of 26,388,890 shares sold at the same price, raising A$9.5 million on Sept. 5.

Following this placement, Sentient Global Resources Fund will own a 21.4% interest in Marengo and Contango Asset Management Ltd. will have a 5.7% interest.

Proceeds will be used for a bankable feasibility study on Marengo's Yandera Copper-Molybdenum project and for general working capital.

Marengo is a mining company based in West Perth, Western Australia.

Xplore takes in C$7.387 million private placement of units

Xplore Technologies Corp. announced it raised C$7.387 million in a previously announced private placement of units, down slightly from the C$10 million it had planned.

Xplore (Toronto: XPL, C$0.46 at close Aug. 30) sold 14,774,000 units at C$0.50 apiece. It originally intended to sell 20,000,000 units.

"We are very pleased to close this important round of funding for the company," said Philip Sassower, company chairman and chief executive officer, in a press release. "This capital injection enables the development of our new products, most notably a rugged notebook PC which we expect to introduce in 2008."

Each unit consists of one series C convertible preferred share and one half share warrant. The warrants are exercisable for two years at C$0.50.

The series C shares have a 5% cumulative dividend that may be paid in either cash or common stock, to be decided by the company. Initially the series C shares are convertible at any time on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment. If the company issues additional securities at less than C$0.50 apiece, the conversion price will be adjusted.

Phoenix Venture Fund LLC, the company's largest stockholder, purchased 3,320,000 units for C$1.66 million.

Xplore, based in Austin, Texas, develops hardware technologies used in the retail, public safety and wholesale warehousing sectors.

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