U.S. private placement volume improves; Gramercy Capital raises $95 million

By Sheri Kasprzak

Atlanta, Dec. 6 - Private placement volume improved slightly Monday, according to sell-side sources as Gramercy Capital Corp. issued one of the larger offerings for the past year.

"It's Monday," joked one market source. "Things are always a little busier at the beginning of the week. But volume does seem to be getting a bit better over last week. Stocks were up today, so that seems to be helping volume."

Canadian companies got a boost from better oil, according to a Canadian market source.

"Oil was up today for the first time in a week, so that has definitely improved energy stocks," said the source. "We did see quite a few oil companies in the market today."

Oil closed up $0.58 at $43.12 per barrel Monday.

Canadian energy companies like Sharon Energy Ltd. and Arrow Energy Ltd. announced Monday they were planning to hit the private placement market with C$1 million and C$1.5 million offerings, respectively.

Heading up action in the United States was a $94,985,000 private placement from Gramercy Capital Corp.

The company said late Friday it plans to issue 4.225 million shares at $17.25 each.

"It looks like a pretty good deal to me," said a market source who had seen the deal. "The pricing looks like it's right in line with where they have been trading. Overall, it's not a bad deal.

"We haven't seen many deals of this size this year, so it's rarity in this market, but I think it's priced pretty well."

On Monday, the company's stock closed down $0.25 at $18.02.

The offering is scheduled to close Jan. 3, 2005.

Gramercy is a New York-based specialty finance company focused on originating and acquiring loans and securities related to commercial and multifamily properties. The proceeds from the deal will be used for investment activity and general corporate purposes.

SpatiaLight raises $10 million

SpatiaLight Inc. said raised $10 million through the private placement of 10% senior secured convertible notes.

The notes mature Nov. 30, 2007 and are convertible into common shares at $9.725 each.

Investors in the notes also have an option to buy an additional $5 million in notes for one year.

Novato, Calif. -based SpatiaLight manufactures high-resolution microdisplays for use in high-definition televisions. The company plans to use the proceeds from the offering to fund construction and equipment of its manufacturing plant in the Republic of Korea and for general working capital.

SpatiaLight's stock closed down $0.23 at $8.12 Monday.

QMed closes deal for $6 million

QMed Inc. wrapped up a private placement of shares for $6 million.

In the offering, the company issued 571,428 shares at $10.50 each.

Rights to purchase 142,856 shares at $11 each for 30 days after the resale registration statement closes were also included in the deal.

The pricing of the deal represents a 6% discount to the average of the closing prices for 10 trading days ending Dec. 3.

First Albany Capital Corp. was the placement agent in the offering.

Based in Eatontown, N.J., QMed provides clinical testing, information and services to health-care companies.

On Monday, the company's stock closed down $0.04 at $6.77.

Standard Management raises $2.75 million

Standard Management Corp. issued $2.75 million in convertible notes.

The notes, due Jan. 1, 2008, were issued on Nov. 30 and bear interest at 6% annually.

The notes are convertible into common shares at $4.20 each and will automatically be convertible into shares upon the earlier of the company's stock exceeding $8 for 15 trading days or Nov. 30, 2007.

Based in Indianapolis, Standard Management is a holding company specializing in annuities and existing life-insurance policies. The company plans to use the proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes.

The company's stock closed down $0.10 at $3.32 on Monday.

Geokinetics wraps deal for $2.5 million

Geokinetics Inc., a Houston-based company that provides seismic data processing for oil and gas companies, wrapped up a private placement Monday for $2,499,900.

The company issued 8,333 shares of its 6% convertible preferred stock at $300 each.

The preferreds are convertible into common shares at $0.30 each. The preferreds accrue dividends at 6% per year and are redeemable after five years at the option of the investor and after seven years at the option of Geokinetics.

"This funding will allow us to bring the professional and technical capabilities of Geophysical Development Corp., our data-processing subsidiary, to a world-class level and to provide necessary capital to take advantage of opportunities, both domestic and international, which may arise from improving industry conditions," said Geokinetics' president David Johnson, in a statement.

Geokinetics will use the proceeds from the financing to develop its data-processing subsidiary, Geophysical Development Corp. The remainder of the funds will be used for general working capital.

On Monday, the company's stock closed unchanged at $1.01.

Synthetic Blood raises $1.89 million

Synthetic Blood International Inc. sealed up a private placement for $1,887,500, the company announced Monday.

On Nov. 30, Synthetic sold 9,437,500 shares at $0.20 each and warrants for 9,437,500 shares.

Warrants for about 437,500 shares are exercisable at $0.275 through September 2007 and warrants for 9 million shares are exercisable at the same price through December 2007.

Costa Mesa, Calif.-based Synthetic Blood International is a biomedical product development company focused on creating pharmaceutical and medical devices for liquid ventilation, oxygen therapeutics, blood substitutes and implanted glucose sensing.

The company's stock closed down $0.01 at $0.25 Monday.

BlastGard gets $1.32 million

BlastGard International Inc. finished a private placement for $1.32 million in convertible notes and warrants.

On Dec. 2, the company sold the notes, which bear interest at 8% per year and mature Oct. 31, 2007.

The notes are convertible into common shares at $1.50 each.

Investors in the offering will also receive class A warrants for 440,002 shares of common stock at $2.09 each exercisable for five years and class B warrants for 131,999 common shares at $3 each for three years.

Andrew Garrett Inc. was the placement agent in the offering.

BlastGard, based in Clearwater, Fla., manufactures, designs, develops and markets proprietary blast mitigation materials used to suppress flash fires.

The company's stock closed down $0.10 at $1.90 on Monday.

Caribou wraps deal for C$8.94 million

Caribou Resources Corp. said late Friday it issued C$8,943,604 in flow-through common shares.

The company sold 1,913,748 flow-through common shares at C$2.55 each. An additional 1,982,216 shares were issued at a price of C$2.05 each because the initial offering was oversubscribed.

Dominick & Dominick Securities Ltd. was lead placement agent in the deal, along with Nova Bancorp Securities Ltd.

Based in Calgary, Alta., Caribou is a natural gas and oil exploration and development company. It plans to use the proceeds from the private placement to fund its exploration and development activities.

On Monday, Caribou's stock closed up C$0.01 at C$2.01.

Mart closes C$7.88 million offering

Mart Resources Inc. closed an upsized private placement for C$7,878,749.

The company issued 17,508,333 shares at C$0.45 each, an offering that included 8,333 more shares than a previously upsized version of the private placement.

Mart, based in Calgary, Alta., is an oil, gas and power company with projects based mainly in Africa. The proceeds from its private placement will be used to contract a service rig for testing and for activities in the company's Nigerian oil and gas fields.

The company's stock closed up C$0.05 at C$0.49 Monday.

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