Beximco takes £44.6 million equity facility; Oculus to meet cash needs; First Uranium, Luna plan deals

By Kenneth Lim

Boston, Jan. 27 - Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd. negotiated a £44.6 million three-year equity financing facility with GEM Global Yield Fund Ltd.

Oculus Innovative Sciences, Inc. plans to raise $3 million through a stock placement to meet its cash needs for 2009.

First Uranium Corp. will sell C$61.5 million of stock and warrant units to fund its mining operations.

Luna Gold Corp. plans to sell C$8 million of its stock in a private placement.

Beximco takes equity line

Beximco arranged a £44.6 million three-year committed equity financing facility with GEM Global Yield Fund.

The shares will be sold at a 10% discount to the 15-day average market price at each drawdown. GEM will also receive 2.5 million warrants, which are exercisable at approximately 217p for three years.

Beximco common stock (Dhaka: Beximco) closed at BDT 204.90 on Tuesday, lower by 0.58% or BDT 1.2. The company has a market capitalization of BDT 11.3 billion.

Proceeds will be used for the company's balancing, modernization, replacement and expansion program, diversification and working capital.

Located in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Beximco manufactures and sells generic pharmaceutical formation products, active pharmaceutical ingredients and intravenous fluids.

The additional funding and the capacity increase that it will enable will increase turnover to about BDT 10 billion and net profit to about BDT 2 billion in 2010, Beximco vice chairman Salman F. Rahman said in a statement.

"We anticipate that most of the additional turnover and profit will come from exports," Rahman said.

Oculus to raise $3 million

Oculus Innovative Sciences plans to place $3 million of its common stock to strategic partner VetCure Inc.

The company is offering 3 million shares at $1 apiece along with 3.5 million warrants. Of the warrants, 1.5 million are exercisable at $1.81 and 2 million are exercisable at $1.13. Also, upon exercise of the 2 million warrants, VetCure can earn the right to purchase an additional 1 million common shares at $1.94 per share.

Oculus common stock (Nasdaq: OCLS) rose 20.91% or $0.23 to close at $1.33 on Tuesday. The company's market capitalization is $21.2 million.

Vetcure will also gain exclusive rights to distribute and sell Vetericyn Wound Care for animals in the United States as part of the deal.

Proceeds will be used for general working capital and to accelerate the company's commercial activities.

Petaluma, Calif.-based Oculus develops and markets products for the prevention and elimination of infection in chronic and acute wounds. Its products are based on the main Microcyn platform.

The company said in a press release on Tuesday that its expected cash need for 2009 is $5.4 million, and it had about $2.4 million in hand as of end-December 2008. The company is aiming to reach profitability in 12 months.

"In spite of the economic conditions, the wound care market is embracing the Microcyn technology and as a result we have seen significant sales increases in the past two quarters," Oculus chief executive Hoji Alimi said in the press release.

"We realize that accelerated revenue growth is key to our ongoing success in this challenging environment. Thus, with today's funding, our intent is to accelerate revenue growth while we continue scrutinizing our spending. Our goal is to reach profitability in a year's time."

VetCure founder and president Bob Burlingame, who is also an Oculus board member, added: "This has been a three-step process for me. I originally invested in Oculus because of the company's strong and energetic management team. I subsequently learned the significance of this technology first hand and eventually joined the board of directors in 2006."

"Being an owner of two major ranches in California and Idaho, I started using the Vetericyn on my reigning horses, dogs and others and saw firsthand the phenomenal healing impact it provided for wounds and infections," he added.

"So I decided to go 'all in' as they say and a few weeks back launched VetCure for the purpose of marketing of Vetericyn - and as of today I have also significantly increased my financial investment in Oculus. I believe we've got our arms around one of the greatest advances in wound care since the discovery of penicillin - bar none."

First Uranium to sell units

First Uranium plans to sell C$61.5 million of stock and warrant units on a bought-deal basis through a private placement.

The company is offering 20.5 million units of one common share and one half-share warrant at C$3 per unit. Each whole warrant is exercisable at C$4.15 for two years.

First Uranium common stock (TSX: FIU) closed at C$3.65 on Tuesday, up by 15.51% or C$0.49. The company has a market capitalization of C$478.4 million.

Proceeds will be used for development of the Ezulwini Mine and the Mine Waste Solutions tailings recovery operation and for general corporate purposes.

First Uranium is a Vancouver, B.C.-based gold and uranium mining company.

Luna plans C$8 million deal

Luna Gold plans to raise C$8 million through a non-brokered stock placement.

The company will sell the shares at C$0.12 apiece. Luna common stock (TSX: LGC) closed unchanged at C$0.155 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of C$13.5 million.

Proceeds will be used to reduce current accounts payable, complete certain works recommended in the Piaba feasibility study and for general corporate purposes.

Vancouver, B.C.-based Luna is a gold exploration and development company focused on projects in Brazil and Nevada.

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