Enbridge seals $313.35 million PIPE; Eagle Rock Energy secures $127.5 million from units

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, April 2 - Two large energy offerings grabbed PIPE headlines to begin the week with the largest coming from Enbridge Energy Partners, LP.

The offerings come as oil prices continued their forward march, gaining 7 cents on Monday to close at $65.94 per barrel after rising as high as $66.69 per barrel in early trading.

"As long a prices keep going up, we're going to see more of them," said one market source when asked about energy offerings and higher oil prices. "It's a cause-and-effect kind of thing. The minute prices go up, we start seeing a lot of energy deals."

In the Enbridge deal, the company sold 5.9 million class C units at $53.11 each to investors led by CDP Infrastructures Group GP and Tortoise Energy Capital Corp. The share price is a 5% discount to the company's $55.89 closing stock price from Friday.

The company's stock gained 50 cents to close at $56.39 (NYSE: EEP).

Proceeds will be used for expansion into eastern Texas and for other expansion initiatives.

Houston-based Enbridge owns liquid petroleum pipelines.

Another Houston-based pipeline operator, Eagle Rock Energy Partners, LP, said it secured $127.5 million from the sale of 7,005,495 units to GPS Partners LLC, Lehman Brothers MLP Partners LP, RCH Energy MLP Fund LP, New Mountain Vantage and Zimmer Lucas Partners, LLC. The exact share price could not be determined by press time Monday.

The company plans to use the proceeds to pay the cash portion of its $136.8 million acquisition of Laser Midstream Energy, LP.

In other news at Eagle Rock, the company received $100 million in additional commitments to increase its current revolving credit facility to $175 million.

News of the placement and the acquisition sent the company's stock up 79 cents, or 3.88%, to close at $21.15 on Monday. The stock gained another 8 cents in after-hours activity (Nasdaq: EROC).

Bioenvision prices direct deal

Moving to the pharmaceutical sector, Bioenvision, Inc. priced a $30 million registered direct offering of stock on Monday.

The deal includes up to 8 million shares 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. The company's stock fell 33 cents, or 8.07%, to close at $3.76 (Nasdaq: BIVN).

Also in the biopharmaceutical sector, Manhattan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. wrapped a stock deal for $8.568 million.

The company issued 10.2 million shares at $0.84 each to a group of institutional and other investors. The sale includes 56,000 shares sold to an affiliate of the company at $0.90 each, the closing stock price on March 29.

The investors also received warrants for 3.6 million shares, exercisable at $1.00 each for five years.

Paramount BioCapital, Inc. was the placement agent.

Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes.

The company's stock remained unchanged at $0.90 Monday (Amex: MHA).

New York-based Manhattan is a pharmaceutical company focused on treating common obesity and morbid obesity.

Neurobiological plans $7 million deal

Elsewhere in the biopharmaceutical sector, Neurobiological Technologies, Inc. announced plans to settle a $7 million registered direct placement of units.

The company's stock got off to a rocky start, losing 13 cents, or 5.96%, by 10 a.m. ET. By the end of the day, the stock had given up 10 cents, or 4.6%, to close at $2.08 (Nasdaq: NTII).

A group of institutional investors has agreed to buy 3,043,478 units at $2.30 each.

The units consist of one share and one warrant. Each warrant is exercisable at $2.40 for five years.

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

The deal is set to close April 4.

Rodman & Renshaw, LLC and Dawson James Securities are the placement agents.

Emeryville, Calif.-based Neurobiological acquires and develops drugs to treat central nervous system disorders.

Raser raises $12.5 million

In the tech sector, Raser Technologies, Inc. pocketed $12,525,016 from a private placement of 2,693,552 shares.

The shares, priced at $4.65 each, were purchased by a group of investors led by Heartland Value Fund.

The six investors also received warrants for 942,739 shares, exercisable at $6.05 each.

Proceeds will be used for growth initiatives and for general corporate purposes.

The stock gained 4 cents to end at $5.24 (NYSE: RZ).

"We are very pleased with this transaction," said Raser chief financial officer Martin Petersen in a statement.

"We view this group of investors as first-rate, long-term shareholders who understand and endorse our business objectives. This financing will allow us to more aggressively pursue those plans."

Based in Provo, Utah, Raser develops technologies to improve the efficiency of electric motors. The company is seeking to branch into the geothermal power plant operating business.

Pointer closes offering

In another tech offering closed Monday, Pointer Telocation Ltd. raised $8,452,500.

The company sold 805,000 shares at $10.50 each to U.S.-based institutions. The share price is equal to the closing stock price on Friday.

The investors also received warrants for 500,000 shares, exercisable at $12.60 each for five years.

After the offering, the company will have 4.45 million outstanding shares.

"The capital raised through the private placement will enable Pointer to support its growth strategy further to its recent years' growth and to finance acquisitions such as those which were recently announced," said Yossi Ben Shalom, the chairman of Pointer's board of directors, in a news release.

"Our new long-term shareholders are financial institutions in the USA. Their investment in Pointer is an expression of confidence in the company's growth potential. The Israeli PIPE completed on December 2006 and this U.S. PIPE, following which major financial institutions hold Pointer's shares are milestones for any future public offering."

Pointer's stock gained 5 cents to end at $10.55 Monday (Nasdaq: PNTR). In after-hours trading, the stock added another 7 cents.

Based in Givatayim, Israel, Pointer provides services to insurance companies and automobile owners, including roadside assistance and vehicle towing services.

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