Amarin to take in $55 million; Nile to raise $3.4 million; Cobra Oil secures equity financing

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Portland, Ore., July 8 - Amarin Corp. plc brought one of Wednesday's largest deals to the private placement market to the tune of $55 million.

The company said it would sell American Depositary Shares, along with warrants, to raise the funds. Proceeds will go toward operations.

Elsewhere in the medicinal field, Nile Therapeutics Inc. intends to raise up to $3.4 million via an equity unit sale. The company has already received commitments for more than 2 million units.

In the mining sector, Cobra Oil & Gas Co. signed a $6 million agreement with an investor for equity financing. The deal also includes a $4 million option.

Also, AndeanGold Ltd. announced it increased a private placement it had originally priced on June 10. The company now hopes to take in C$1.2 million, over the C$1 million as previously stated.

Luiri Gold Ltd. closed on the first tranche of its C$2.63 million placement of stock. The company sold more than 12 million shares of the total 21.89 million offered.

Among other issuers, Cash Converters International Ltd. said it would raise A$5 million from a stock sale.

Amarin to get $55 million

Mystic, Conn.-based biopharmaceutical company Amarin negotiated a $55 million private placement of American Depositary Shares.

The company will issue 55 million units containing one American Depositary Share and one half-share warrant at $1.00 per unit. Each whole five-year warrant is exercisable at $1.50 for one American Depositary Share.

Investors in the financing include funds affiliated with Longitude Capital, Sofinnova Ventures, Orbimed Advisors and Fountain Healthcare Partners.

"This potential funding for up to $55 million represents a major advance for Amarin and would achieve our objective of having the company's phase 3 cardiovascular program fully funded," commented Thomas Lynch, chairman and chief executive officer, in a statement.

Proceeds will be used for operations and settlement for the first tranche is expected by July 24.

Amarain's stock (Nasdaq: AMRN) fell 2 cents, or 1.63%, to $1.21.

Nile to raise $3.4 million

Nile Therapeutics plans to raise $3.4 million through a private placement of units, according to a press release.

The company said it has already received commitments for 2.7 million units, which will hold one common share and one warrant. Each unit will sell at $1.25 per unit.

The warrants will be issued in three tranches. A quarter of the warrants are exercisable at $1.25, another quarter at $1.71 and the remaining half at $2.28.

"We are pleased to have the continued support of the investment community to ensure the advancement of our promising technology in the effort to develop a novel treatment for heart failure patients," said Joshua Kazam, chief executive officer. "We believe these funds will provide us with sufficient capital to complete our impending phase 2 clinical study of CD-NP and we look forward to generating meaningful clinical data."

Nile's equity (Nasdaq: NLTX) improved 6 cents, or 5.26%, to $1.20. Market capitalization is $29 million.

Nile Therapeutics is a San Francisco-based biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of cardiovascular disease.

Cobra secures equity financing

Cobra Oil & Gas will issue up to $10 million of stock to Baden Energy Group Inc., the company announced.

Cobra inked a $6 million agreement with the Swiss-based group, according to a press release. The deal includes a $4 million option.

"I am very pleased to have signed this agreement with Baden Energy Group Inc., allowing Cobra to advance development on its promising Utah Tar Sand project," said Max Pozzoni, Cobra's president. "Considering the large potential of the project, Cobra and its shareholders stand to benefit greatly from this capital infusion."

Proceeds will be used for capital exploration.

Cobra Oil is debt free, the release stated.

Cobra's equity (OTCBB: CGCA) gained 2 cents, or 4.21%, to $0.52.

Cobra Oil & Gas is a Houston-based oil and gas exploration company.

Andean increases deal

AndeanGold upsized a private placement originally announced June 10 to C$1.2 million from C$1 million.

The company will issue equity units containing one common share and one half-share warrant at C$0.05 per unit. Each whole warrant is exercisable at C$0.10 for one year.

All told, the company will sell 24 million of the units. In the initial tranche that closed June 30, 13.65 million units were sold, for proceeds of C$682,500.

The second tranche is expected to settle sometime in mid-July.

AndeanGold's shares (TSX Venture: AAU) ended unchanged at C$0.05. Market capitalization is C$1.6 million.

Elsewhere in the mining arena, Luiri Gold said it raised C$1.49 million in the first tranche of its C$2.63 million private placement of equity.

Under the terms of the deal priced June 8, Luiri will sell approximately 21.89 million common shares at C$0.12 per share to Lachlan Star. Approximately 12.42 million shares sold in the first tranche.

Upon completion of the placement, Lachlan will hold about 31% of the company's outstanding issued shares.

Luiri's stock (TSX Venture: LGL) slipped 2 cents, or 13.33%, to C$0.13. Market capitalization is C$5.21 million.

Cash Converters seeks cash

Cash Converters International, a Perth, Australia-based franchiser of second-hand goods and financial services stores, is planning an A$5 million private placement of shares.

The company will sell 12.5 million common shares at A$0.40 per share. The shares will be marketed to institutional and "sophisticated" investor clients of Hartleys Ltd. The price per share equals a 3.6% discount to the company's closing price before July 8.

Proceeds will be used for second-hand store acquisitions and to increase the capacity of Cash Converters' Safrock loan book.

Cash Converters' equity (Australia: CCV) closed at A$0.415.

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