Polaris sells equity to pay debt; Silence sees fund support; ServisFirst, Environmental Service raise capital

By Kenneth Lim

Boston, Jan. 8 - Polaris Minerals Corp. placed C$25 million of units to pay off a bridge loan and beef up its balance sheet.

Silence Therapeutics plc raised £2.65 million through a private stock placement to existing shareholders.

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. raised $6.04 million from 92 investors in a private stock offering, while Environmental Service Professionals, Inc. settled a $5 million private placement of units.

Polaris raised C$25 million

Polaris Minerals raised C$25 million through a private placement of stock and warrant units.

The company sold about 15.63 million units of one common share and one half-share warrant at C$1.60 per unit on a bought-deal basis. Each whole warrant will be exercisable at C$2.25 for two years.

Polaris common stock (TSX: PLS) closed unchanged at C$1.50 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of C$56.4 million.

Proceeds will be used to repay an outstanding C$20 million bridge loan and for general corporate purposes.

Vancouver, B.C.-based Polaris is focused on the development of quarries and the production of construction aggregates in British Columbia for marine transport to urban markets on the west coast of North America.

"We are pleased to be able to pay off the bridge loan that we used to acquire the strategic Pier B site in the Port of Long Beach, Calif.," Polaris president and chief executive Herb Wilson said in a statement.

"The company has a strong balance sheet and we will improve our cash position by eliminating the remaining interest expense associated with the bridge loan. We are well positioned to continue with our business plan which we expect to benefit from the anticipated growth in infrastructure investment which has been proposed by the incoming U.S. administration and we do not have plans for significant capital expenditures before 2011."

Silence raises from shareholders

Silence Therapeutics took in £2.65 million for working capital in a stock placement to a number of existing shareholders.

The company sold about 15 million shares at 18p apiece to fund managers Gartmore, Fidelity, Insight and another European fund. The company's ordinary shares last traded at 22p on Thursday, up by 15.79% or 3p. Silence's market capitalization is £26.4 million.

Proceeds will be used to finance and broaden the company's pre-clinical and RNAi development programs and to help the company execute its business plan into 2010.

Silence is a London-based pharmaceutical company.

After the placement, Gartmore's stake in Silence will increase to 6%.

"I am absolutely delighted that the Life Sciences team at Gartmore has recognized the potential of Silence Therapeutics and also that key shareholders including Fidelity and Insight have participated in the placing," said Silence chairman and chief executive Iain Ross in a news release.

ServisFirst raises $6.04 million

ServisFirst Bancshares took in $6.04 million through a private stock placement on Dec. 31.

The company sold 241,440 common shares at $25 apiece to 92 investors. The company's stock is not listed.

ServisFirst is a bank holding company based in Birmingham, Ala.

The bank in November said it would not take part in the U.S. Treasury Department's Treasury Capital Purchase Program, in which the Treasury will buy preferred shares from eligible banks, citing the dilutive effects of the program and uncertainty about future changes in the program.

Environmental Service settles deal

Environmental Service Professionals, Inc. placed $5 million of stock and warrant units to Lion Share Capital, LLC.

The company sold 5 million units at $1 apiece to Lion Share. The units each consist of four common shares and three-year warrants for three common shares. One of the warrants is exercisable at $0.25, while the remaining two are exercisable at $0.75.

Environmental Service Professionals has a market capitalization of $3.15 million. Its common stock (OTCBB: EVSP) closed at $0.06 on Thursday, unchanged from the previous close.

Environmental Service Professionals is a Palm Springs, Calif. -based company which franchises the right to operate a business that provides limited mold, moisture and allergen survey services for residential and commercial buildings using the company's mandatory central call center.

As part of the deal, Lion Share managing member Greg Buss will be appointed to Environmental Service Professionals' board of directors.

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