Wood Composite directors to raise stakes; Searchlight, ESV complete deals; Premium to raise C$5 million

By Kenneth Lim

Boston, Feb. 11 - Directors of Wood Composite Technologies Inc. sent out a sign of commitment on Monday after they agreed to buy C$1.245 million of their company's shares and said they would raise more from the capital markets.

Searchlight Minerals Corp. closed its two private placements of units, one to qualified institutional investors in the United States and another to non-U.S. buyers, for a total of $5.25 million.

ESV Group plc received a £1.57 million injection after it sold more than a fifth of its enlarged share capital, with an eye on pursuing growth in the biofuel industry and strengthening its management.

Meanwhile, Premium Petroleum Corp. plans to raise C$5 million in a private placement, and the company said it had already received strong interest.

Wood Composite plans dual sale

Nisku, Alta.-based Wood Composite, a maker of composite decking products, said it plans to raise C$4.25 million through two private placements.

The company will sell up to 8.3 million common shares at C$0.15 each for C$1.245 million in a non-brokered deal and up to 20 million shares at the same price for C$3 million in a deal led by Canaccord Adams. Wood Composite shares finished unchanged at C$0.145 on Monday.

There is a C$205,000 over-allotment option on the non-brokered placement and a C$1,001,000 greenshoe on the brokered offering.

The company plans to use the proceeds for working capital purposes, to expand its markets and to build up inventory.

The non-brokered sale will be bought by directors and officers of the company, including John Greenwood, the president and chief executive officer, and Tom Villetard, the chief financial officer.

"Fundamentally our investment philosophy is that we believe that as directors we need to have the same stake in the game as our investors," Greenwood told Prospect News.

Greenwood said the company was optimistic that the non-brokered deal would be successful.

"We've done some homework, looked around and did our due diligence, and we believe that the deal will be firm," Greenwood said.

The current fundraising is important for the company, Greenwood said.

"The company is growing at a rapid rate, and when companies are growing fast you need to find financing to maintain that growth."

Searchlight completes deals

Searchlight Minerals said it sold $5.25 million of units in two private placements, about $250,000 more than it originally planned.

The first placement was sold to US investors in a Regulation D offering that comprised about 1.644 million units at $1.60 each for $2.63 million, just under the 1.875 million units for $3 million indicated at pricing in December. The second placement was sold to international buyers in a Regulation S deal that consisted of about 1.638 million units at the same price for $2.62 million. That was more than the 1.25 million units totaling $2 million that was originally intended.

In separate transactions, the company also recently raised a further $5 million from another share placement and $2.5 million from a warrant exercise.

"We are delighted to announce the completion of these private placements and the warrant exercise, which will allow the company to pursue its strategic objectives from a position of extraordinary financial strength," Searchlight chief executive Ian McNeil said in a statement.

"We now have approximately $18.5 million of cash and equivalents in the bank, with approximately $3.5 million allocated to the final capital expenditures required to complete our initial precious and base metals production module at the Clarkdale Slag Project."

The rest of the funds will be used as working capital, the company said.

ESV raises £1.57 million

ESV Group said it sold 156.52 million ordinary shares at a penny apiece to raise £1.57 million.

The new shares represents about 22.64% of its enlarged share capital.

London-based ESV was a logistics and trading company, but is currently trying to become a provider of raw vegetable oil for the budding bio-diesel industry in Europe.

Masoud Alikhani, ESV chairman, said in a press release that the company has about 29,650 acres of land under cultivation in Ukraine and about 5,440 acres out of an existing 27,180 acres cultivated in Mozambique.

"With all the significant project developments ahead, we will be strengthening the board and management of ESV to assist the existing team at ESV to best implement and execute these plans," Alikhani said.

"The year ahead should be an exciting one for the biofuel feedstock and general agricultural products industry, in which ESV is very well placed to prosper."

Premium targets C$5 million in sale

Premium Petroleum wants to raise C$5 million in a private placement to further develop its properties.

Calgary, Alta.-based Premium, a junior oil and gas company, said it is negotiating with underwriters. The company also said it "has had more than one strong expression of interest."

The proceeds of the deal will be used to develop Premium's Viking gas well and its Upper Grand Rapids Flowing Oil Sands well, as well as to fund general working capital purposes.

"With oil prices at record highs, coupled with current market interest in oil sands I am confident we will secure our financing on attractive terms," president and chief executive Bruce A. Thomson said in a statement. "We are fortunate as a junior company not only to have approximately 15,000 acres in oil sands lands but also to have made a new Flowing Oil Sands Discovery."

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