PolyMet stock gains 10% on $41.25 million private placement; ANTs raises $13 million

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, April 3 - The stock markets rebounded Tuesday, breathing new confidence into the PIPE market, which had previously struggled with diving share prices.

"Stocks had been doing better for a while there, but this is what we really needed," said one sellside market source Tuesday of the jump in stock prices. "How long this lasts, I don't know. I think a lot of it has to do with the slip in oil. I'm always skeptical of moves like this because it's almost always fueled by some news. The news changes, oil prices go back up and stocks go back down."

Stocks were bumped up Tuesday as oil prices declined by $1.30 to close at $64.64 per barrel.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 128 to close at 12,510.30, and the Nasdaq composite index advanced by 28.07 to end at 2,450.33. The Standard & Poor's 500 composite index gained 13.22 to close at 1,437.77.

Looking to particular offerings Tuesday, PolyMet Mining Corp. saw its stock climb by 10% after announcing a $41.25 million private placement.

The company's stock gained 31 cents to end at $3.40 Tuesday (Amex: PLM). Volume also took off with 597,300 shares traded compared with the average 7,700 shares.

In the offering, a group of investors has agreed to buy 15 million units of one share and one half-share warrant at $2.75 each. The whole warrants in the non-brokered offering are exercisable at $4.00 each for 18 months.

Proceeds will be used for the procurement of timeslots for long lead time equipment and materials.

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

Sabina wraps C$30 million deal

In other resources offerings, Sabina Silver Corp. pocketed C$30 million from the sale of units Tuesday.

The company sold 10 million units in the deal, including the greenshoe for 5 million additional units exercised by a syndicate of underwriters led by Research Capital Corp.

The units are comprised of one share and one half-share warrant. The whole warrants are exercisable at C$3.60 each for three years.

Proceeds will be used for the advancement of the company's Hackett River project toward permitting, feasibility studies and production. The rest will be used for general corporate purposes.

The stock gained 20 cents, or 6.85%, to close at C$3.12 Tuesday (TSX Venture: SBB).

Sabina's most recent private placement was conducted in December with Silver Wheaton Corp. In the deal, Silver Wheaton bought 7.8 million units of one share and one half-share warrant for C$1.65 each.

Sabina, based in Vancouver, B.C., is a mineral exploration company.

Discovery Labs secures $30.2 million

In the biotech sector, Discovery Laboratories, Inc. announced on Tuesday the imminent closing of a $30,207,500 registered direct placement of its stock.

The offering includes up to 14.05 million shares at $2.15 each.

The shares are being offered under Discovery's shelf registration.

A group of institutional investors plans to purchase the shares on Thursday.

Jefferies & Co., Inc. is the bookrunner.

The company's stock gave up 3 cents to close at $2.29 after losing 3 cents in pre-market activity. The stock fell another 3 cents in after-hours trading (Nasdaq: DSCO).

The company closed a $10 million private placement of stock in November 2006. Jefferies was also the agent for that deal.

In the November 2006 deal, the company sold 4,629,630 shares at $2.16 each.

Based in Warrington, Pa., Discovery develops treatments for respiratory diseases in children, adults and premature infants.

Bioenvision stock climbs

A day after pricing a $30 million direct placement of stock, Bioenvision, Inc.'s stock climbed by 4.52%.

The stock gained 17 cents to end at $3.93 but lost 14.78 cents in after-hours trading (Nasdaq: BIVN). On Monday, when the offering priced, the stock slipped 33 cents to close at $3.76.

The deal includes shares priced at $3.75 apiece, an 8.03% discount to the company's $4.09 closing stock price on Friday.

The shares are being offered under the company's shelf registration.

J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. is the placement agent for the offering, which is set to close April 4.

New York-based Bioenvision develops technologies to treat cancer.

ANTs invades market

Heading to the tech sector, ANTs Software Inc. wrapped a $13 million private placement of units.

The company sold 260 units of 14,285 shares with a value of $1.75 each and $25,000 in 10% convertible promissory notes. The price per unit was $50,000.

The two-year note is convertible into 12,500 common shares at $2.00 each.

Proceeds will be used for research and development, customer support, sales and marketing and working capital.

On Tuesday, the stock lost 3 cents to close at $1.92 (OTCBB: ANTS).

ANTs last headed to the PIPE market in December, when the company sold 220 units of 14,285 shares and convertible notes in principal of $25,000 for $11 million. Those units were also sold at $50,000 each.

Located in Burlingame, Calif., ANTs develops database management software.

Enbridge stock climbs

In the energy sector, Enbridge Energy Partners, LP saw its stock edge up on Tuesday, a day after the company announced a $313.349 million private placement.

The stock gained 15 cents to close at $56.54 (NYSE: EEP). On Monday, the stock gained 50 cents to settle at $56.39.

A group of investors led by CDP Infrastructures Group GP and Tortoise Energy Capital Corp. agreed to buy limited partnership units in the deal at $53.11, a 5% discount to the company's $55.89 closing stock price from Friday.

Houston-based Enbridge owns liquid petroleum pipelines.

Another Houston-based pipeline operator, Eagle Rock Energy Partners, LP, watched its stock fall almost 2% after closing a $127.5 million stock deal.

Eagle Rock's stock gave up 42 cents to end the session at $20.73, losing another 3 cents after the market closed (Nasdaq: EROC). The stock fell 79 cents to end at $21.15 Monday.

In the placement, a group of institutions bought limited partnership units. The price per share was still unavailable Tuesday.

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