Candax seeks C$13 million; Image Metrics pockets $8 million; Oxigene plans stock, warrant sale

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Portland, Ore., March 11 - Canadian resource and U.S.-based new media companies were among Thursday's PIPE issuers.

Candax Energy Inc. brought a C$13 million deal to market. The company will sell units to raise the funds and one investor will purchase the units. As such, the transaction will result in a change of control.

Meanwhile, Image Metrics Inc. said it raised $8 million via a private placement of units. The company also said it recently completed a reverse merger.

Oxigene Inc. will privately sell common shares and warrants in its effort to raise $7.5 million. The funds will be used for clinical trials.

Elsewhere, Aldrin Resource Corp. announced a C$5 million private placement of units. Proceeds will be used, in part, for exploration.

Next 1 Interactive Inc. took in $3.5 million from a sale of a promissory note. The note was sold to a company director.

And Everton Resources Inc. said it would conduct a non-brokered financing for proceeds of C$3 million.

Candax seeks C$13 million

Candax Energy intends to raise C$13 million via a private placement of units, according to a press release.

Geofinance NV is the investor.

The company will issue approximately 144.44 million of the units at C$0.09 each. The units will contain one common share and 0.6 warrants. Whole warrants are exercisable for one year at the five day volume weighted average trading price of the shares on the exercise date.

The placement is pursuant to an agreement between Candax and Geofinance entered into in February. Once all warrants have been exercised, Geofinance will own 58% of outstanding Candax equity, resulting in a change of control.

"We are pleased with this strategic investment by Geofinance," said Adrian Loader, chairman of Candax, in a press release issued Feb. 1. "This transaction not only brings some significant new equity funding to Candax but also provides a strong technically experienced shareholder."

"The investment by Geofinance will provide Candax with the funding to undertake the remedial work on the El Bibane field and this combined with the Bank of Scotland facility restructuring that is currently being negotiated, provides Candax with a significantly enhanced capital base and balance sheet."

Proceeds will be used for capital expenditures and for restructuring purposes. Settlement is expected by March 18.

Calls seeking further comment were not returned Thursday.

Candax's stock (Toronto: CAX) fell half a cent, or 6.25%, to C$0.075. Market capitalization is C$13.5 million.

Candax Energy is a Toronto-based oil and gas company.

Image Metrics pockets $8 million

Image Metrics, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based provider of facial animation software and services to the interactive entertainment and film industries, wrapped an $8 million private placement of units.

The company sold 8 million units at $1.00 per unit. The units consist of one series A convertible preferred share and one half-share warrant. Whole warrants are exercisable at $1.50 each.

Additionally, the company has an option to sell another 4.8 million units.

Image Metrics also announced that it had completed a reverse merger with International Cellular Accessories.

Proceeds will be used to advance sales and marketing and development efforts, for working capital and general corporate purposes.

"Our proven animation technology allows video game studios to significantly improve the time to market for their games while simultaneously reducing development costs," said Michael Starkenburg, chief executive officer, in a press release.

"The Image Metrics process enables artists to create believable facial animation that captures the subtleties of human facial movement in a fraction of the time needed for traditional methods. Gamers are seeking increasingly realistic and immersive experiences and believable facial performances. We are now staffing up sales and marketing to take advantage of a growing base of client testimonials, awards, press and word of mouth to grow both the size of the facial animation market and our market share.

"In addition, we are working to package our technology into a software service offering that we can deploy to customers. This will create a hybrid software/service business model which should expand our market opportunity and favorably impact profit margins and our future financial performance."

Image Metrics' new shares (OTCBB: ICLA) have not yet started trading.

Oxigene plans stock, warrant sale

Oxigene is seeking $7.5 million from a private placement of equity, the company said in a regulatory filing and subsequent press release.

The company will issue approximately 6.58 million common shares in the deal. Investors will also receive series A and B warrants, with each set of warrants equal to another 6.58 million shares.

The series A warrants are exercisable at $1.52 for five years, while the series B warrants are exercisable at $1.14 for seven months.

Proceeds will be used for the development of the company's high-priority oncology programs, including its ongoing trials of Zybrestat in non-small cell lung cancer and of OXi4503 trials in solid tumors, as well as to continue its programs in anaplastic thyroid cancer and in ophthalmology. Settlement is expected by March 12.

Calls seeking further comment were not returned Thursday.

Oxigene's equity (Nasdaq: OXGN) dropped 1½ cents, or 1.18%, to $1.255. Market capitalization is $78.7 million.

Oxigene is a Waltham, Mass.-based pharmaceutical company.

Aldrin to raise C$5 million

Aldrin Resource will conduct a C$5 million private placement of units, the company said in a press release.

Aldrin will sell 10 million units at C$0.50 each. The units will hold one common share and one half-share warrant. Whole warrants are exercisable at C$0.75 for 18 months.

Proceeds will be used for drilling and exploration efforts at Aldrin's Yukon Territory properties, as well as for future acquisitions and working capital.

Aldrin's stock (TSX Venture: ALN) gained 6 cents, or 10.34%, to C$0.64. Market capitalization is C$13.9 million.

Aldrin Resource is a Vancouver, B.C.-based resource exploration company.

Next 1 sells note to director

Next 1 Interactive settled a $3.5 million private placement of a promissory note, according to a regulatory filing.

The note was sold to Mark Wilton, a director of the company.

The note matures Jan. 25, 2011. Wilton will also receive up to 7 million warrants, which are exercisable at $1.00 for three years.

Next 1 did not return requests for comment on Thursday.

Next 1's shares (OTCBB: NXOI) fell 3 cents, or 4.41%, to $0.65. Market capitalization is $21.1 million.

Next 1 Interactive is a Weston, Fla.-based interactive media company whose focus is in video and media advertising delivered over Internet and television platforms.

Everton to issue units

Everton Resources will raise C$3 million from a non-brokered private placement of units.

The company will issue 12 million of the units at C$0.25 per unit. The units will consist of one common share and one half-share warrant. Whole warrants are exercisable at C$0.40 for two years.

Proceeds will be used for exploration activities, and to continue drilling gold-copper targets on the Dominican Republic projects and define the gold resources on its Shoal Lake projects. Settlement is expected by March 24.

Everton's equity (TSX Venture: EVR) declined 1 cent, or 3.85%, to C$0.25. Market capitalization is C$20.1 million.

Everton Resources is an Ottawa, Ont.-based resource exploration company.

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