Acadian Mining takes in C$10 million; Landkom plans stock offering; Avantair gets $8.4 million

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Portland, Ore., Oct. 22 - Thursday saw a fair mix of companies coming to market or completing private placement financings.

Acadian Mining Corp. announced it raised C$10 million from a private placement of stock. The shares were sold to a single investor, bringing the investor's total holdings to 69%.

On the other side of the Atlantic, Landkom International plc said it intended to raise £9.75 million from a private stock sale. The funds will be used to execute the company's crop program.

Avantair Inc. said it pocketed $8.4 million from a private equity financing. The company had previously closed on $2 million from a private placement of units.

Among other settled transactions, Evergreen Energy Inc. said it wrapped a $7 million private placement of convertible preferred stock. The company deemed the financing the first step in its restructuring process.

Crosshair Exploration & Mining Corp. is seeking C$4 million of exploration funding. The company will conduct a two-part deal to raise the proceeds, including a private placement of units and a private placement of flow-through shares.

Acadian takes in C$10 million

Acadian Mining raised C$10 million from a private placement of common equity, the company announced.

The deal originally priced March 17.

The company sold approximately 338.11 million shares to Golden River Resources Corp.

The shares were sold at C$0.03 per share.

Proceeds will be used to repay debt owed to Royal Roads Corp. and for the advancement of Acadian's gold properties.

Terry F. Coughlan, vice president of Acadian, said the company was pleased with the outcome of the deal. When asked why Acadian chose to enter the private placement market back in March, he said, "It was either that or go bankrupt."

Part of the issue, he said, was debt that needed to be repaid. Now that the funds have been raised, the debt will be paid back.

In addition, Coughlan was excited about Golden River's investment and the addition of Golden River's chief executive officer Joseph Gutnick.

"Joseph is well-recognized in Australia and developed one of the largest gold companies at that time," Coughlan explained. "He's a good leader to have on board."

Upon completion of the transaction, Golden River held approximately 69% equity interest in Acadian.

Acadian's equity (Toronto: ADA) gained 1 cent, or 11.76%, to C$0.095. Market capitalization is C$29.3 million.

Acadian Mining is a Halifax, N.S.-based mineral exploration company.

Landkom plans stock sale

Landkom International will conduct a £9.75 million private placement of stock, the company said in a news release.

The Isle of Man, England-based company will sell 195 million ordinary shares at 5p per share.

Proceeds will be used for working capital, "including supporting the group's crop and planting programs throughout 2010, and enabling Landkom to exploit its strategic potential in the Ukrainian farm sector," the release read.

"Having explored a number of options, we believe that a straightforward fund raising is the best way forward for the group - to secure its future growth and capitalize on our recent operational improvements," commented Neil Balfour, chairman, in the release.

"The alternatives did not sufficiently recognize the inherent value of the group's position as an attractive farming platform for growth in Ukraine when the fundamentals for our business - growing world population and land opportunities - remain unchanged.

"Landkom is now at a turning point," he continued. "We believe that the group has the assets, a strengthened local expert management team, a valuable land bank and, following completion of the placing, the necessary working capital. The business, which is highly operationally geared, is in a strong position to benefit from any rises in agricultural commodity prices."

Landkom's stock (London: LKI) closed at 5.75p. Market capitalization is £17.1 million.

Avantair raises $8.4 million

Avantair, a Clearwater, Fla.-based aircraft operator, closed on an $8.4 million private placement of shares on Oct. 16, according to a regulatory filing.

The company sold approximately 8.8 million common shares at $0.95 per share.

In September, the company raised $2 million via a two-tranche private placement of units. The company sold 617,200 total units, with each unit containing one common share and one warrant. The units were issued at $2.50 each and the warrants are exercisable at $4.00 until June 30, 2012.

Proceeds from the financings will be used to retire approximately $6 million of debt, as well as for working capital and general corporate purposes.

"We have demonstrated considerable financial growth in recent quarters and the closing of these transactions further augments our ability to execute on our growth strategy," said Steven Santo, founder and chief executive officer, in a press release.

"The completion of the transaction enables us to further improve our capital structure and significantly improve cash flow. We have also entered into agreements to expand our fleet with the addition of four aircraft, three of which we have already received and the fourth which we expect to add before the end of the calendar year.

"The expansion of our fleet will enable us to keep pace with the strong demand for our flight programs," he said.

"Each of the positive trends in our business that we have recently announced - including gains in revenues, flight hours, fleet size and headcount - show that we are taking a growing share of the private aircraft market, so the timing of this expansion couldn't be better. At a time when our competitors are downsizing, Avantair continues to grow at a record pace."

Avantair's stock (OTCBB: AAIR) improved by 10 cents, or 10.00%, to $1.10. Market capitalization is $19.6 million.

Evergreen wraps preferred placement

Evergreen Energy took in $6.97 million from a private placement of convertible preferred shares, according to a press release.

The deal settled Oct. 21.

The series B convertible preferreds are convertible into common stock at an initial conversion price of $0.6025. The shares pay 5.66% cumulative dividends.

Investors also received warrants equal to approximately 5.78 million common shares. The warrants are exercisable at $0.648 for five years.

"Today's transaction is an important first step in the company's capital restructuring," said Thomas H. Stoner, Jr., president and CEO, in the release. "We continue to explore various alternatives, as well as a potential joint venture, sale or spin-off of certain assets, including our K-Fuel assets and Buckeye Industrial Mining Co.

"We are committed to driving the long-term value of the Company, which we believe is the commercialization of our GreenCert carbon management system," Stoner said. "Our award winning technology has attracted blue chip partners, and we are encouraged with our progress."

"Our intent is to identify and execute additional financing alternatives rapidly and place our primary focus on GreenCert, a scientifically accurate, scalable environment intelligence solution that measures greenhouse gasses and generates verifiable emissions credits. Evergreen is working with partners to license the software to provide customers the end-to-end visibility and traceability necessary to measure their complete environmental footprint."

Evergreen's equity (NYSE: EEE) declined 5 cents, or 8.04%, to $0.515.

Evergreen Energy is a Denver-based company that refines coal into a cleaner solid fuel.

Crosshair seeks exploration funds

Crosshair Exploration & Mining intends to raise C$4 million from a private placement of common-share units and stock.

The Vancouver, B.C.-based company will issue 5 million units at C$0.20 each. The units will contain one common share and one warrant. Each warrant is exercisable at C$0.30 for 18 months.

In addition, Crosshair will also sell 12 million flow-through shares at C$0.25 per share.

"We're raising money, which hasn't been an easy thing to do in this market," Mark J. Morabito, CEO, told Prospect News.

He said that the company has already received calls from interested investors wanting to participate in the financing.

Morabito noted that the company's stock price had "previously been depressed" due to a three-year moratorium on uranium mining. "That's now nearly half over, so I think people are taking a look at us again," he said.

The funds will be used for exploration activities, specifically at the company's Golden Promise project in Newfoundland and another property in Labrador, Morabito said.

Crosshair's shares (Toronto: CXX) slipped a penny, or 3.92%, to C$0.245. Market capitalization is C$27.5 million.

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