Immunicon pockets $30 million from convertibles; Trans-Orient prices $6 million PIPE

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, Dec. 5 - Biotechnology company Immunicon Corp. led a fairly active day for private placements Tuesday as stocks continued to climb.

In the Immunicon offering, the company sold 6% unsecured subordinated convertible promissory notes due December 2009. The $4.09 conversion price is a 19.2% premium to the company's $3.43 closing stock price on Monday.

The offering sent the company's stock down 7%, or 24 cents, to end the day at $3.19, giving up another penny in after-hours trading. Volume was elevated with 184,605 shares traded compared with the average 58,620 shares.

One buysider said he's not that fond of Immunicon.

"They have a very narrow product range and until they can successfully expand that, I'm not really that keen on them," he said. "I don't see them doing that much."

Still, a sellside market source said he feels the stock will rebound.

"They're not a bad company and the deal looks OK to me," he said. "Sometimes stock just drops on the news and comes back the next day. I think that will be the case with this one."

Also in the deal, the investors received warrants for 1,466,994 shares, exercisable at $4.09.

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. was the placement agent.

The underlying shares will be issued under the company's shelf registration.

Proceeds will be used for the commercialization of the company's medical diagnostic products, including manufacturing and clinical trials, research and development, marketing outside of the field of cancer, capital expenses and working capital.

Immunicon, based in Hutingdon Valley, Pa., develops cell- and molecule-based human diagnostic and life science products to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

ReGen stock continues gains

In secondary market biotech news, ReGen Biologics, Inc. saw its stock gain another 8.7% Tuesday after the company closed a $6.956 million private placement on Monday.

The company's stock closed up 4 cents to end at $0.50 Tuesday (OTCBB: RGBI). On Monday, the company's stock gained 8 cents, or 21.05%, to settle at $0.46.

In the placement, ReGen sold shares at $0.37 apiece to investors in the United States and Europe. The price per share was only a slight discount to the company's $0.38 closing stock price Friday.

Located in Franklin Lakes, N.J., ReGen develops orthopedic products used for tissue growth and repair.

Trans-Orient's $6 million deal

Moving to the oil sector, prices edged down only slightly Tuesday after slipping a substantial amount on Monday.

Oil prices edged down only a penny Tuesday to close at $62.43 per barrel. On Monday, the stock sank 98 cents to close at $62.44 per barrel.

When asked if there might be a surge of oil offerings following the settling down of oil prices, one market source based in Vancouver, B.C., said it's unlikely.

"Energy stocks are up a bit but I think there is still some wariness about oil," he said. "If it stays stable for a while, there probably will be [more oil offerings] but for now, I don't see a huge influx of stuff."

In a $6 million offering from Trans-Orient Petroleum Ltd., the company plans to sell 6 million units of one share and one half-share warrant. The whole warrants are exercisable at $1.35 each for 18 months.

On Tuesday, the company's stock gave up 9.68%, or 15 cents, to close at $1.40 (OTCBB: TOPLF). Volume fell off with 1,681 shares traded compared with the average 18,990 shares.

The company plans to sell the units to a group of accredited investors before the end of the year.

Vancouver, B.C.-based Trans-Orient is an oil and natural gas exploration company.

BPZ stock slips

In other oil news, BPZ Energy, Inc.'s stock dropped Tuesday after the oil explorer priced a $19.5 million stock deal.

The stock dropped 5 cents, or 1.19%, to settle at $4.15 (Pink Sheets: BPZI). On Monday, when the deal priced, the stock closed unchanged at $4.20.

In the placement, the company plans to sell shares at $3.00 each to International Finance Corp. The offering is part of a $120 million financing with IFC and other financial institutions.

Proceeds from the deal will allow BPZ to complete its gas-to-power project in the Corvina Gas Field offshore northwest Peru.

Houston's BPZ is focused on properties in northwest Peru and southwest Ecuador.

WorldWater's $18 million deal

In other PIPE news, WorldWater & Power Corp.'s stock gained more than 9.5% Tuesday after the company announced the completion of the initial tranche of an $18,005,715 private placement.

The company's stock gained 4 cents on the day, or 9.59%, to settle at $0.40 (OTCBB: WWAT).

In the first tranche, the company sold 4,892,857 shares of series D convertible preferred stock at $2.76 each to Emcore Corp.

Emcore received warrants in the first tranche for 505,044 shares, exercisable at $3.17 each for five years.

The preferreds are initially convertible into common shares at $0.276 each.

The second tranche of the deal is set to close before the end of the year for the remaining $4,501,430.

Based in Pennington, N.J., WorldWater develops a solar-powered system used to operate water pumps.

Piper Capital plans offering

In Canada, Piper Capital Inc. led activity there with a C$6.064 million private placement.

The company hopes to sell 15.2 million units at C$0.26 each and 6.6 million flow-through shares at C$0.32 each.

The units consist of one share and one half-share warrant. The whole warrants are exercisable at C$0.35 each for two years.

Bolder Investment partners Ltd. is the placement agent.

Proceeds will be used for the acquisition and exploration of the New Britannia Mine.

The company's stock gained half a cent on Tuesday to close at C$0.30 (TSX Venture: PCL).

Vancouver, B.C.-based Piper is a mineral exploration company.

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