Private placement volume up on better stocks; RegeneRx closes $5.86 million deal

By Sheri Kasprzak

Atlanta, Jan. 10 - After suffering from a slump last week, private placement volume improved Monday, boosted by strong stocks.

"It's actually better this week," said one sell-side source. "There are a few things out there and you can expect to see quite a few things coming up. I know that there's a reasonably big deal that should be pricing soon, but I don't have all of the details on it and I really can't say much about it right now."

"Stocks are driving volume," said another sell-sider. "It doesn't hurt that issuers also have a better idea of what their needs are."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 17.07 at 10,621.03 on Monday, the Nasdaq composite index was up 8.43 at 2,097.04 and the S&P 500 ended 4.06 higher at 1,190.25.

Heading up action in the United States was a closed deal from RegeneRx.

The company wrapped a $5.86 million offering after selling 1,418,462 shares at $3.25 each.

The deal was the second and final tranche. Last month, the company closed a $1.25 million tranche.

Warrants for up to 25% of the shares sold in the deal were also issued, exercisable at $4.06 each for 36 months.

The deal, according to one market source, was priced at a 24% discount.

"Biopharmaceutical stocks are shaky," said the source. "I think it has little to do with the company itself, because I know this particular company has some new products and is conducting some clinical trials, which is good. But I just think the rocky biopharm market may make some investors leery."

On Monday, the company's stock closed down $0.05 at $4.25.

ThinkEquity Partners LLC was the placement agent in the deal.

Based in Bethesda, Md., RegeneRx is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of acute and chronic wounds. It plans to use the proceeds from the offering for phase II wound-healing clinical trials, research and development and general operating purposes.

Pinnacle gets $5 million in equity

Pinnacle Developments Inc. got a $5 million equity line from Duchess Private Equities Fund II LP.

Pinnacle, according to the agreement, will draw from the financing for 36 months and is tied into the price and volume of Pinnacle's stock.

Based in Vancouver, B.C., Pinnacle is a wood and wood products company. It plans to use the proceeds from the financing for ongoing operations and for acquisitions.

The company's stock closed at $0.30 Jan. 6, its last trade.

Wits Basin wraps $2.5 million offering

Wits Basin Precious Minerals Inc. sold 25.05 million units in a private placement to raise $2,505,000.

The units, priced at $0.10 each, include one share and one half-share warrant.

The whole warrants allow for an additional share at $0.25 through Dec. 31, 2006.

Galileo Asset Management SA was the placement agent.

Based in Minnetonka, Minn., Wits Basin is a precious metals exploration and development company.

Wits Basin's stock closed down $0.01 at $0.35 on Monday.

id-Confirm raises $1 million

id-Confirm Inc. closed a $1 million private placement.

One investor bought 1 million units at $1 each. The units include one share and two warrants.

The warrants allow for an additional share at $1.25 each for the first year and $1.50 for the second year.

Based in Denver, id-Confirm develops biometric technologies to prevent identity theft and fraud.

id-Confirm's stock closed up C$0.013 at C$1.983 Monday.

Camtek closes offering

Priortech Ltd. has finished up a NIS 53.5 million private placement offering for subsidiary Camtek Ltd.

Israeli institutional investors bought two- to five-year non-traded debentures in the deal.

The debentures are convertible into common shares at US$5.50 each.

The investors also received warrants for 791,800 shares at US$6.25 each for four years.

Priortech owns 77.8% of Camtek's outstanding shares and, if all of the debentures are converted and the warrants exercised, Priortech's holdings will be reduced to 66.6%.

"As we previously announced, while this is essentially a Priortech deal, we believe that Priortech's plans to potentially reduce its holdings in Camtek will be of benefit to Camtek," said Camtek's chief executive officer Rafi Amit in a statement. "We believe that the increase in liquidity of Camtek's shares that may result from the conversion of the debentures and the exercise of the options, through the shift of up to 10.5% of Camtek's equity from Priortech into the hands of Israeli institutional investors and ultimately into the hands of the broader public, will benefit both Camtek and its shareholders."

Based in Migdal Haemek, Israel, Camtek designs, develops, manufactures and markets automatic optical inspection systems.

Camtek's stock closed down $0.04 at $4.38 Monday.

Canadian offerings

Leading private placement news north of the border, Petro Andina Resources Inc. completed a C$36 million offering.

Investors bought 6 million shares at C$6 each.

FirstEnergy Capital Corp. was the placement agent in the deal.

Calgary, Alta.-based Petro Andina is a private oil exploration company. The company plans to use the proceeds for its 2005 drilling at its JCP discovery in Argentina.

Admiral Bay plans C$12 million deal

Admiral Bay Resources Inc. announced its plans to raise up to C$12 million in the private placement market.

The company plans to sell a maximum of 12 million units at C$1 each.

The units include one share and one half-share warrant.

The whole warrants allow for an additional share at C$1.35 each for 18 months.

Admiral Bay is a Toronto-based oil and gas exploration and development company. It plans to use the proceeds from the deal for drilling, well completion, infrastructure building and the acquisition of acreage for projects in the United States.

On Monday, Admiral Bay's stock closed down C$0.05 at C$1.20.

Kenrich-Eskay hits market

Kenrich-Eskay Mining Corp. will raise a maximum of C$5 million in a private placement.

The offering includes a combination of flow-through and non flow-through units. The flow-through units, which will be sold at C$0.85 each, include one share and one half non flow-through share. The whole warrants allow for an additional share at C$1.10 each for one year

The non flow-through units, which are priced at C$0.75 each, include one share and one half-share warrant. The whole warrants allow for an additional share at C$1 each for one year.

The breakdown of the flow-through and non flow-through units was not available at press time Monday.

Based in Vancouver, B.C., Kenrich-Eskay is a gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc exploration and development company. It plans to use the proceeds from the flow-through units for exploration and development on its Corey property at Eskay Creek. The non flow-through units will be used for working capital.

The company's stock closed unchanged at C$0.70 on Monday.

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