Excellon completes financing; FNX Mining plans C$15 million deal; Panmure secures €20 million

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Portland, Ore., April 15 - Mining and financial companies dominated the private placement market Wednesday. Several larger size deals also came to market during the session.

Excellon Resources Inc. is planning to use funds from its recently completed C$7.37 million stock sale to further develop some of its mines. The company had originally priced the deal at C$7.5 million.

Fellow mining company FNX Mining Co. Inc. is aiming to raise C$15 million through a placement of flow-through shares. The company plans to use proceeds to restart exploration at its Sudbury properties.

Meanwhile, Panmure Gordon & Co. plc will sell ordinary shares in its placement, the company said. The financing will bring in £17.28 million.

Pharming Group NV secured a €20 million three-year committed equity financing facility. The biotechnology company will use the funds to market its leading products.

Excellon completes financing

Excellon Resources completed the fourth and final tranche of its private stock placement, according to a press release.

The company raised a total of C$7.37 million in the deal, with the last tranche bringing in C$1.96 million. The previous tranches brought in C$2.92 million, C$750,000 and C$1.96 million on March 18, March 19 and April 2, respectively.

The deal originally priced at C$7.5 million on March 18. All told, the company issued approximately 38.8 million new common shares.

Proceeds from the financing will be used for development, as well as for general corporate purposes. Specifically, the funds will be used for "normal mine development," according to Morgan Knowles, Excellon's manager of investor relations.

"The money will be used for getting exploration up and running and getting a water program in place," she told Prospect News. The company had encountered some "water inflow issues" earlier in the year at one of its properties. As such, the company brought in hydrologists to diagnose the problem and now drilling needs to be done to ensure it does not happen again, she explained.

Knowles also noted that the "board decided [a private placement] would be in everyone's best interest."

Excellon's stock (Toronto: EXN) gained 1.5 cents, or 5.35%, to C$0.295.

Excellon Resources is a Toronto-based mineral resources company.

FNX plans C$15 million deal

FNX Mining is planning to raise C$15 million via a private placement of flow-though shares.

Under the terms of the deal, the Toronto-based company will issue approximately 2.2 million of the shares at C$6.90 per share. C$10 million will be raised on a guaranteed basis, while the remaining C$5 million will be raised on a best-efforts basis.

Proceed will be used for exploring some of the company's non-producing properties.

"Because of our 2009 cash conservation and cost reduction programs, the company's exploration activity on our Sudbury properties was severely curtailed this year," said Terry MacGibbon, chairman and chief executive officer of FNX, in a statement.

"Exploration has been one of the company's greatest value added and growth drivers with our proven exploration team enjoying a very impressive record of mineral discoveries. This flow-through financing will allow our exploration team to dramatically increase its exploration activity while not depleting the company's cash position. The funds will primarily be used for exploration on our non-producing properties in Sudbury that contain untested exploration targets that warrant detailed work. The company will continue to minimize its capital and operating expenditures while focusing on achieving its 2009 operating plans and developing the Levack Footwall Deposit for production startup in 2010."

Settlement is expected by April 28.

FNX's equity (Toronto: FNX) increased by a quarter, or 4.33%, to C$6.03.

Panmure to sell stock

Panmure Gordon will issue new ordinary shares in its effort to raise £17.28 million, the company announced.

Under the terms of the private placement, Panmure will sell 72 million shares at 24p per share to BlueGem Capital Partners LP and another unidentified investor. Proceeds will be used to strengthen the company's balance sheet.

Upon closing, BlueGem will own 40.3% of Panmure's enlarged share capital.

"Today's announcement marks an important new phase in broadening and strengthening Panmure Gordon's franchise for the future," said Tim Linacre, Panmure Gordon chief executive, in a press release.

"BlueGem is a London-based private equity firm established by senior investment bankers and investment managers and its investment in Panmure Gordon is a tremendous endorsement of our long-term strength and direction. BlueGem will bring outstanding contacts and expertise to the firm, which will help to create new revenue streams for the group and further assist in realizing the potential inherent in our business model.

"The investment ensures we have the financial flexibility to take advantage of market and revenue opportunities as they arise," he continued. "The significant cost reductions taken in 2008 mean we have a platform with significant operational gearing to take advantage of any market upturn. I will also look forward to welcoming both Marco Capello and Emilio Di Spiezio Sardo [of BlueGem] to the Board as non-executive directors."

"BlueGem's investment in Panmure Gordon signals its firm belief in the company's brand, reputation, management and 130-year heritage, as well as its attractive business model," stated Capello, founder of BlueGem, in the release. "The industry has very interesting prospects, as well as an abundance of available, talented professionals. With its robust financial position and strong client list, Panmure Gordon is extremely well positioned to take advantage of these opportunities.

"As a shareholder, BlueGem is keen to reinforce Panmure Gordon's prospects with substantial capital and access to our network of industry expertise," Capello added. "We look forward to supporting the firm's management as it takes the company to the next stage of its development."

Panmure's stock (London: PMR) closed at 35p.

Panmure Gordon is a London-based provider of financial services.

Pharming arranges equity facility

Pharming Group secured a €20 million committed equity financing facility from Yorkville Advisors Global Master SPV Ltd.

According to the terms of the three-year facility, Yorkville will purchase common shares in regular tranches of up to €400,000 at a 5% discount to market price.

"We are very pleased to have arranged this standby agreement," said Dr. Sijmen de Vries, CEO of Pharming, in a statement. "It provides us with the flexibility to raise finance through equity at our discretion, whilst minimizing dilution for our current shareholders. This agreement is an important step towards securing sufficient financing to reach commercialization stage with our lead product Rhucin, As stated before, we continue to look at additional financing opportunities to further improve our financial position. At the same time we continue to discuss early redemptions and conversions of our remaining € 45 million convertible debt."

"Yorkville provides flexible and innovative financing tools for public companies to expand and grow their businesses," added Dr. Michael J. Nowak, managing director at Yorkville Advisors, LLC, a New Jersey fund with approximately $ 900 million of assets under management. "We are particularly excited to invest in Pharming, an important player in the space of transgenic protein production and development, and our first transaction in a Euronext Amsterdam-listed health care company."

Pharming's stock (Pink Sheets: PHGUF) last traded at $0.43 on March 17.

Pharming Group is a Leiden, Netherlands-based biotechnology company.

Grecian bank wraps deal

National Bank of Greece SA wrapped a €80.38 million private placement of stock on April 14, according to a press release.

The Athens-based company sold approximately 5.95 million shares at €13.50 per share. The price represented a 3.7% discount to the closing price as of April 9.

Proceeds will be used to "improve NBG's capital adequacy and relevant ratios," the release stated.

NBG's stock (NYSE: NBG) ended unchanged at $3.72. Market capitalization is $8.97 billion.

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