Vyyo gets $35 million investment from Goldman, Syntax-Brillian seals $15.5 million stock sale

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, March 28 - Tech companies led PIPE news on Wednesday with several tech names in the headlines. These deals were headed up by a $35 million note offering closed by Vyyo Inc.

The trend toward tech offerings may not last very long, according to one market source.

"Tech [stocks] had been doing pretty well over the past couple of weeks but now it's starting to fall off quite a bit," he said. "If I had to guess, I'd say that at least for the next week or so, you're less likely to see them in the market. We'll see what the stocks do going forward."

In the Vyyo deal, Goldman, Sachs & Co. agreed to buy $35 million in unsecured convertible notes due in five years. The 5% notes are convertible at $10.00 each, a 34% premium to the company's $7.45 closing stock price on Tuesday.

The offering includes $17.5 million in new funding and $17.5 million to pay off notes issued to Goldman in 2006.

Proceeds will be used to deploy the company's spectrum overlay and business services solutions for the cable industry.

The offering is set to close this week.

The news sent the company's stock up more than 20% by 11 a.m. ET (Nasdaq: VYYO). The stock ended the day up almost 13%, or 97 cents, at $8.44 and gained another 2 cents in after-hours trading.

"We believe that this investment by Goldman Sachs is yet another indicator of the timeliness and value of our solutions, and the significant market opportunity for companies like ours that can help cable operators increase bandwidth," said Davidi Gilo, Vyyo's chairman, in a statement. "Like StarHub and our recent management additions, Goldman Sachs has chosen to throw its support behind Vyyo based on its assessment of our technology and the cable industry's needs."

In other news at the company, Wayne Davis was named chief executive officer.

Norcross, Ga.-based Vyyo develops technologies used to expand cable operators' hybrid-fiber coax network capacity.

Syntax-Brillian raises $15.5 million

In other tech news, Syntax-Brillian Corp. settled a $15,505,019 stock offering of 2,118,172 shares sold at $7.32 apiece.

The investors in that deal include an entity controlled by John Jung-Jyh Wu, chief executive officer of TCV Group, the company's main supplier of plastic injection molded parts, and WesTech Electronics Ltd., a supplier of electronic components for the company's Olevia brand of televisions.

The investors also received warrants for 211,817 shares, exercisable at $8.78 each for three years.

Proceeds will be used for the expansion of the company's manufacturing base and for the support of the company's marketing efforts.

The company's stock began climbing early, gaining 4.41%, or 35 cents, by 10:35 a.m. ET. The stock went on to gain 48 cents to close at $8.41 and gained another penny in after-hours activity (Nasdaq: BRLC).

"We're impressed with Syntax-Brillian's rapid ascent in the North American HDTV [high-definition television] market and its potential to continue to capture market share into the future," said Wu, in a news release. "We look forward to working closely, as a partner, with Syntax-Brillian to support its volume requirements as it builds recognition of the Olevia brand for HDTV excellence."

"This investment by executives of TCV Group and WesTech once again validates our strategic direction and ongoing success," said Syntax-Brillian CEO Vincent Sollitto in the news release. "This investment further aligns the interests of Syntax-Brillian and its shareholders with those of our valued supply chain members as we continue to work together to develop even more exciting next-generation digital entertainment products."

Syntax-Brillian, based in Tempe, Ariz., develops high-definition televisions.

PhotoChannel secures $14.96 million

Elsewhere, PhotoChannel Networks Inc. is gearing up to close a $14.96 million placement with a group of institutions.

The investors agreed to buy 4.4 million units of one share and one warrant at $3.40 each. The warrants are exercisable at $4.00 each for two years.

The deal is expected to close soon.

Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes and potential corporate opportunities.

The company's stock gave up 3.33%, or 15 cents, to settle at $4.35 (TSX Venture: PN).

Vancouver, B.C.-based PhotoChannel provides digital media services for wireless carriers and content providers.

Gold remains popular in Canada

Moving to the Canadian PIPE market, gold offerings retained their presence in the market with two offerings announced Wednesday.

MacMillan Gold Corp. settled a C$2,221,100 offering of units, selling 6.346 million units at C$0.35 each.

Each unit consists of one share and one half-share warrant. The whole warrants are exercisable at C$0.50 apiece through Sept. 27, 2008.

The offering was not brokered.

Toronto-based MacMillan's stock climbed by half a cent on Wednesday to close at C$0.37 (TSX Venture: MMG).

Another Toronto-based gold company, Goldeye, priced a C$1.1 million offering of up to 10 million units.

Those units include one share and one warrant. Each warrant is exercisable at C$0.15 for two years.

Proceeds will be used for its non-Canadian mineral projects and for working capital and administrative costs.

The company's stock remained unmoved at $0.115 (TSX Venture: GGY).

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