Pawfect wraps $3 million; Monument sees C$38.1 million; Atacama arranges C$80 million

By Devika Patel

Knoxville, Tenn., July 22 - Pawfect Foods, Inc. completed a $3 million private placement on Monday, Monument Mining Ltd. said it raised C$38.1 million in a private placement of units and a convertible credit facility and Atacama Minerals Corp. negotiated an C$80 million private sale of its common shares.

Pawfect settles $3 million

Pawfect announced a private placement on Monday in which it raised $3 million.

The New York company sells premium and holistic pet food. It also said it acquired Synergy Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in exchange for shares of its common stock issued to Callisto Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and that it cancelled 1,981,503.650 of 2 million of its outstanding common shares. The surrendered shares were a condition of the exchange and financing.

The company also approved a 75.69060773 for one forward stock split and changed its corporate name to Synergy Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

As a result of the financing, exchange of shares and the stock split, Synergy became a subsidiary of Pawfect.

Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused primarily on the development of drugs to treat gastrointestinal disorders and diseases. Its lead drug candidate is SP-304, which is used to treat gastrointestinal disorders, primarily chronic constipation and constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome.

"Raising critically needed capital to fund the continuing development of SP-304 and retaining a 68% interest in the drug's future given current market conditions is very encouraging," Callisto's chief executive officer and Synergy's president and acting chief executive officer Gary S. Jacob said in a press release. "We believe Callisto investors and the investors in the new Synergy Pharmaceuticals are best served through this transaction."

The company's shares (OTCBB: PAWF) were not trading on either Monday or Tuesday.

Monument gets C$38.1 million

Monument announced it pocketed C$28.1 million in a private placement of units and also settled a C$10 million credit facility.

Both deals priced May 13.

The company had planned to sell only C$28 million of the units, but ended up selling 70,120,000 units at C$0.40 apiece. Each unit consists of one common share and one warrant. Each whole warrant will be exercisable at C$0.50.

The company also secured a convertible credit facility for up to C$10 million with a three year term and interest at 3%. It matures on July 15, 2011.

Monument would draw down at least C$6 million by Dec. 31, as needed to fund its development work. The interest for the first year would be payable in shares or cash at the discretion of the company and in cash thereafter.

The credit facility will be convertible into units of one share and one half-share warrant, the three-year warrant being exercisable at C$0.75 if in the first two years and at C$0.83 in the third year. The conversion share price on the facility is to be C$0.40 per unit for funds drawn down by Dec. 31.

Qualson Global Ltd. was the agent. The investors were all European.

Proceeds will be used to complete construction on the mining company's Malaysian Gold Mine Project, advance exploration programs and discharge an existing $9 million debt.

"The completion of this financing will be a milestone for the company to move to the construction stage," Monument's president and chief executive officer Robert F. Baldock said in a press release at pricing.

"The construction period of the treatment plant facility under current market conditions is expected to be completed within a year ... and a positive cash flow will be generated from commercial gold production thereafter, with no further funding requirement expected from the capital markets in the foreseeable future.

"With adequate financing in place, the company will expand its exploration capability within Malaysia ... At the same time the company will commence a recruitment and training program to expand its present staff of two drilling teams to provide more flexibility to its exploration operations," Baldock concluded.

The company is based in Vancouver, B.C. Its shares (TSX Venture: MMY) remained unchanged, closing at C$0.34 on Tuesday.

Atacama plans C$80 million

Atacama Minerals said it hopes to raise C$80 million in a private placement of stock.

The Vancouver, B.C.-based mineral exploration company will sell 80 million common shares at C$1.00 per share.

The deal will be conducted on a best efforts basis by a syndicate co-led by GMP Securities LP and Cormark Securities Inc. and including Haywood Securities Inc.

Proceeds will be used for development of the company's nitrate fertilizer operations and general working capital purposes.

In a June 2 press release, the company said it planned a major expansion into nitrate production.

The company said in the release that its board of directors has approved development of the company's Aguas Blancas industrial minerals mine in Chile, which will include the construction of a $60 million nitrate fertilizer plant designed to produce 70,000 tons of nitrate fertilizer per year.

Nitrate fertilizers from Chile are considered a specialty fertilizer and have been experiencing strong demand and price increases in recent years, the company said.

"The fertilizer market has entered a new period of significant growth and global consumption," Atacama's president and chief executive officer Edward Posey said in the June 2 release. "The timing is very opportune for Atacama to develop the fertilizer potential of the Aguas Blancas mine ... The company will now enter a major new growth phase as an important new supplier of specialty nitrate fertilizers."

Its shares (TSX Venture: AAM) sank 1.87% on Tuesday, or C$0.02, to close at C$1.05.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.