Hanmi secures funding from Woori; OceanFreight gets equity infusion; Anadys brings direct sale

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Portland, Ore., May 26 - The PIPE market saw a fair mix of U.S.- and Canadian-listed companies seeking financing on Wednesday.

Hanmi Financial Corp. announced the day's largest deal, a private placement of stock for proceeds up to $240 million. The investor is Woori Finance Holdings Co. Ltd. and, upon completion of the transaction, Woori will hold a majority share in the company.

Meanwhile, OceanFreight Inc. said it had negotiated a $20 million equity infusion from its founder and chief executive officer. The proceeds will be used to fund asset acquisitions.

Anadys Pharmaceuticals Inc. brought a $12.5 million registered direct offering of equity to market. The funding will likely be used for clinical trials, according to a market analyst, though he doubted the financing would be enough to bring the drug candidate through phase 3.

Among Canadian issuers, Starfield Resources Inc. said it was seeking C$2.1 million for exploration activities. The financing will be done via a private placement of units.

In wrapped transactions, Doxa Energy Ltd. said it took in C$2.6 million from a private placement of units, while Yangarra Resources Ltd. pocketed C$2.06 million from a reduced private placement of stock.

Woori to invest in Hanmi

Hanmi Financial, a Los Angeles-based bank holding company for Hanmi Bank, is seeking up to $240 million from a private placement of equity, according to a press release.

Woori Finance Holdings Co. Ltd. is the sole investor. The investment will result in Woori owning a majority of Hanmi's outstanding shares.

Woori has agreed to purchase $210 million in common shares at $1.20 per share. The investor has the option to increase the investment by $30 million.

In addition to the private placement, Hanmi is also looking to raise another $120 million via a $60 million rights offering for existing stockholders and a $60 million registered best-efforts offering. For the rights offering, shareholders of record will receive subscription rights entitling them to purchase one common share, also at $1.20 per share.

A "substantial amount" of the Woori investment will be used as new capital in Hanmi Bank.

The company could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

Hanmi's equity (Nasdaq: HAFC) gained 51 cents, or 25.12%, to $2.54. Market capitalization is $127 million.

OceanFreight gets equity infusion

Athens, Greece-based OceanFreight intends to sell $20 million of common shares to its founding shareholder and chief executive officer, Anthony Kandylidis.

The company will sell 50 million common shares to Basset Holdings Inc., a company controlled by Kandylidis.

"We welcome the support of our founder and principal shareholder in the form of an equity infusion," John Liveris, chairman, said in a press release. "This represents a clear sign of strong support and commitment to the company. The new equity raised will be deployed to partly finance the purchase of the M/V Montecristo and for further acquisitions. OceanFreight is committed to its fleet renewal program with the clear target of improving long-term profitability."

Calls made to the company seeking further comment were not returned Wednesday.

OceanFreight's stock (Nasdaq: OCNF) fell a nickel, or 8.98%, to $0.47. Market capitalization is $86 million.

Anadys brings direct offering

Anadys Pharmaceuticals will raise $12.5 million via a registered direct offering of common stock, the company said in a press release.

The San Diego-based company will sell approximately 5.81 million of the shares at $2.15 per share.

The biopharmaceutical company intends to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including clinical trials and research and development. The funds will also be used for working capital.

Edward Nash, an analyst with Roth Capital, expects that the bulk of the funding will be used for clinical trials, specifically for getting its ANA598 drug candidate through phase 2 trials. However, Nash opined that the financing would not be enough to advance to and complete phase 3 trials.

"The company cannot finance phase 3 on their own and there isn't a partner stepping up," he said in an interview with Prospect News. "They have always promised a partnership," but thus far, "it hasn't come to fruition. And that has put pressure on the stock."

Nash remarked that the drug "looks to be potent" in treating Hepatitis C, although it has also been found to cause a rash. Initially, the data "looked great," resulting in an increase in the equity. But once it was found that the drug caused rashes in a fair amount of test cases, the stock began to disintegrate, he explained.

Additionally, Nash noted that Anadys has retained Lazard Freres & Co. LLC as a strategic adviser "as it pursues various avenues aimed at value recognition for its stockholders from its non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitor, ANA598, in development for the treatment of hepatitis C," as stated in a press release.

Lazard is also acting as the lead placement agent in the financing.

Nash said that one of the options the company has is to sell itself or possibly just the drug. But, "I don't know how much the drug is worth," he said, citing the difficulties associated with it. "I don't know if there's a whole lot of buyers out there who would pay what the company would want."

Calls made to the company seeking comment were not returned Wednesday.

Anadys' shares (Nasdaq: ANDS) improved by 18 cents, or 8.07%, to $2.41. Market capitalization is $89.3 million.

Starfield to sell units

Starfield Resources announced a C$2.1 million private placement of units.

The company will sell 25.1 million units at C$0.085 each on a best-efforts basis. Each unit will hold one flow-through common share and one half-share warrant.

Whole warrants are exercisable at C$0.15 for one year.

Proceeds will be used for exploration. Settlement is expected by June 8.

Starfield's equity (TSX Venture: SRU) slipped 1 cent, or 6.25%, to C$0.08. Market capitalization is C$39.1 million.

Starfield Resources is a Vancouver, B.C.-based resource exploration and development company.

Doxa deal done

Doxa Energy completed a C$2.6 million private placement of units, according to a press release.

The financing was done in connection with Doxa's acquisition of a 20% working interest and 15% net revenue interest in oil and gas leases at the Peeler Eagle Ford Shale Prospect in Texas.

The Vancouver, B.C.-based company issued approximately 5.2 million units at C$0.50 each. Of the units sold, 2.2 million were sold to Arnold Armstrong, chairman of the company. Armstrong now holds 26.95% of Doxa's outstanding shares.

Each unit consisted of one common share and one half-share warrant. Whole warrants are exercisable at $0.75 for two years.

"Doxa is now in a position to immediately begin implementing the steps that we believe will bring successful financial and operating results to the company and create exceptional value for all Doxa shareholders," said John D. Harvison, president and chief executive officer, in the release.

"In subsequent news releases I look forward to setting forth the vision and dedication my colleagues and I have in order to facilitate Doxa's growth, and I am sure additional participation within the Eagle Ford Shale trend will constitute a considerable aspect of our growth."

Doxa's stock (TSX Venture: DXA) increased 18 cents, or 105.88%, to C$0.35. Market capitalization is C$1.19 million.

Yangarra settles stock sale

Among other settled transactions, Yangarra Resources pocketed C$2.06 million from a previously announced private placement of stock.

The deal originally priced for C$2.31 million on May 20. The deal settled May 21 and was reduced due to an investor's failure to pay for 454,546 of the shares.

All told, the Calgary, Alta.-based company sold approximately 3.75 million flow-through common shares at C$0.55 per share.

Proceeds will be used for exploration activities in the Willesden Green area of Alberta.

Yangarra's shares (TSX Venture: YGR) moved up 14 cents, or 29.17%, to C$0.62. Market capitalization is C$33.27 million.

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