Signet Energy changes hands following C$18.73 million PIPE; Med-Emerg closes $3.5 million stock sale

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, July 11 - Signet Energy, Inc. led PIPE activity on Tuesday after the company was acquired by a new set of investors in an C$18,736,950 private placement.

Signet, which had previously been owned by Surge Global Energy, Inc., sold 16,293,000 shares at C$1.15 each to individual investors in the United States and Canada.

Surge had 27,477,097 outstanding common shares as of May 15.

Surge Global's stock took a hit from the offering, losing 5.88%, or 11 cents, to end at $1.76 (OTCBB: SRGG). On Monday, the last time the stock moved, it fell 10 cents to end at $1.87.

Following the offering, Surge no longer controls more than half of Signet's voting stock.

Neither Surge Global chief financial officer William Greene nor chief executive officer David Perez returned calls for comment on the placement.

This is not the first time Signet has headed to the PIPE market. In December 2005, the company raised C$3.7 million from the sale of convertible debentures. The debentures are convertible at C$1.00 each. Surge closed a $1.8 million private placement of 1.2 million shares in March.

Signet operates the Sawn Lake oil sands development in Alberta, which is owned by Deep Well Oil & Gas Inc. and Northern Alberta Oil Ltd. Signet pays 80% of the drilling costs on 10 wells to earn a 40% working interest. So far, Signet has completed drilling on one well and the farm-in agreement must be completed by Feb. 25, 2008.

Surge's losses have jumped substantially over the year. Surge sustained a net loss of $5.94 million for the quarter ended March 31, up from a net loss of $1.46 million for the same quarter of 2005.

Calgary, Alta,-based Signet is an oil and natural gas exploration company.

In the broader market, lower stocks early in the session kept activity relatively light on Tuesday, one sellside market source said.

"It seems to be turning around now," he said when interviewed in the late afternoon. "It looked a lot worse earlier. I really don't have a thing that I'm looking at. You do have to consider earnings too, so that might be taking some of the air out of the tires."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 31.22 to close at 11,134.77; the Nasdaq composite index climbed 11.93 to end at 2,128.86; and the Standard & Poor's 500 composite index gained 5.18 to settle at 1,272.52.

Med-Emerg's $3.5 million deal

Elsewhere in private placement activity, Med-Emerg International Inc. pocketed $3.5 million from a private placement of series 1 special shares.

The company issued 8.75 million of the special shares at $0.40 apiece to Calian Technologies Ltd.

The special shares are exchangeable for common shares before July 11, 2011 on a one-for-one basis.

Med-Emerg's stock fell by a penny, or 3.45%, on Tuesday to close at $0.28 (OTCBB: MDER).

Based in Mississauga, Ont., Med-Emerg provides staffing services to the health care industry.

Jura plans C$15 million PIPE

Moving to the oil sector and Canadian private placements, Jura Energy Corp. arranged a private placement of units for up to C$15 million.

The offering includes up to 15 million units of one share and one warrant. The warrants are exercisable at C$1.50 each for one year.

The placement is being conducted through a syndicate of agents led by Westwind Partners Inc.

The deal is scheduled to close July 25.

Jura's stock slipped by 5 cents on Tuesday to close at C$1.30 (Toronto: JEC).

Proceeds will be used for capital expenditures at subsidiary Frontier Holdings Ltd.'s oil and gas projects in Pakistan. The rest will be used for general corporate purposes.

Calgary, Alta.-based Jura is an oil and natural gas exploration company.

The Knot stock climbs

A day after wrapping a $50,187,500 private placement, The Knot, Inc.'s stock rose by 3.78% on Tuesday.

The stock gained 71 cents to close at $19.48 (Nasdaq: KNOT). In after-hours activity, the stock gained another 6 cents. On Monday, when the deal closed, the stock lost 2.95%.

Funds and accounts managed by Ashford Capital Management, Inc.; Capital Research and Management Co.; and T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. bought shares at $18.25 each, a 5.6% discount to the company's $19.34 closing stock price on Friday.

Allen & Co., LLC was the placement agent.

Separately, The Knot is putting together a public offering of its stock to fund the cash portion of its acquisition of WeddingChannel.com, Inc. WeddingChannel.com, based in Los Angeles, also provides wedding information and planning tools.

New York-based The Knot provides online and print wedding information.

BioSante stock dips

In other secondary market action, BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc. watched its stock fall by more than 6% a day after the company announced its plans to close a $7,625,956 private placement.

The company's stock slipped by 6.22%, or 14 cents, to end at $2.11 (Amex: BPA).

On Monday, when news of the deal was released, the stock climbed by 1.35%, or 3 cents, to close at $2.25.

A group of institutional and other investors agreed to buy shares of BioSante at $2.00 each. The price per share is a 9% discount to the company's $2.22 closing stock price on Friday.

Rodman & Renshaw, LLC is the placement agent.

Proceeds from the deal will be used to progress Bio-E-Gel past approval of its New Drug Application currently under review by the Food and Drug Administration. The drug is used to treat menopausal symptoms. The proceeds will also be used to begin phase 3 clinical trials for LibiGel used to treat female sexual dysfunction.

BioSante, based in Lincolnshire, Ill., develops hormone therapies for men and women.

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