Ampal-American pockets $37.86 million from stock sale; China Security raises $10 million from PIPE

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, Nov. 29 - Ampal-American Israel Corp. led a relatively light day for private placements Wednesday, announcing its plans to seal a $37,863,577 offering of class A shares.

The company is gearing up to sell 8,142,705 shares at $4.65 each, a slight premium to the company's $4.63 closing stock price on Tuesday.

The investors will receive warrants for 4,071,352 shares, exercisable at $4.65 each for eight months.

The offering was announced late in the day Wednesday and the stock edged up 3 cents, or 0.65%, to close at $4.66 (Nasdaq: AMPL).

Earlier this month, Ampal-American completed a private placement of unsecured non-convertible notes for NIS 250 million. The 5.75% notes are linked to the Israeli consumer price index and are due in five equal installments beginning November 2011.

Based in Tel Aviv, Ampal-American acquires interests in businesses in Israel.

Meanwhile, stocks rebounded Wednesday, giving some hope to the market after a disappointing session for new offerings on Tuesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 90.28 to close at 12,226.73 and the Nasdaq composite index gained 19.62 to settle at 2,432.23. The Standard & Poor's 500 composite index ended the day up 12.76 at 1,399.48.

"There will always be off days but volume seems pretty good to me," said one sellside market source when asked about volume in general Wednesday afternoon.

"No one wants to price when stocks are off. You have this window where you can get things done."

Another sellsider said that while it may be true that most issuers don't want to price when stocks are off, some may have no choice but to take steeper discounts than they'd like.

"You're getting near the end of the year and if you need [the cash], you'll just have to settle for what you can get or else wait it out until next year or take some other financing," he said.

He noted that sometimes equity lines are more favorable because the discount is set and the issuers can choose when to draw on the line.

China Security raises $10 million

Elsewhere in PIPE news, China Security & Surveillance Technology, Inc. wrapped a $10,000,003 private placement of stock.

The company sold 1,538,462 shares at $6.50 each to three funds associated with JLF Asset Management. The price per share could not be determined by press time Wednesday.

Proceeds will be used for working capital.

On Wednesday, the stock gave up 20 cents, or 2%, to settle at $9.80 (OTCBB: CSCT). The volume of China Security stock traded was elevated on Wednesday with 106,700 shares traded compared with the average 77,710.

"We are pleased to raise additional capital as these proceeds will augment our existing organic growth while providing us the opportunity to identify additional complementary acquisitions," said Tu Guo Shen, the company's chief executive officer, in a news release.

"Our institutional sponsorship continues to increase and we are pleased to welcome new investors to our shareholder base."

China Security has tapped the PIPE market before, selling 4,634,592 units of one share and one fifth-share warrant for $16,221,072 in proceeds on July 31. Earlier in July, the company completed a similar offering for $12,041,073, selling 2,675,794 units under the same terms at $4.50 each.

Headquartered in Shenzhen, China, the company develops and installs surveillance and security systems.

Hudson secures $5.7 million

Looking to the financial sector, Hudson Holding Corp. pocketed $5.7 million from a private placement of shares through an investment group that included hedge funds as well as professional and individual investors.

The investment group bought 9,575,325 shares. The exact price per share could not be determined by Wednesday evening.

The investors received warrants for 4,787,661 shares, exercisable at $0.85 each.

The stock advanced by 5.88%, or 5 cents, to close at $0.90 (OTCBB: HDHL).

"We're excited to achieve another milestone as we further expand our presence in the marketplace," said Marty Cunningham, the company's CEO, in a statement.

"The private placement will enable us to enhance our product and service offerings for clients and further grow our capacity. A portion of the proceeds will be invested in Hudson Securities, Inc. in order to expand our professional trading and sales staff."

Proceeds from the deal will be used for technology, new office locations, working capital and general corporate purposes.

Based in Jersey City, N.J., Hudson Holding is the parent company of Hudson Securities, Inc., a registered broker-dealer, and Hudson Technologies Inc., a company that provides technology services to Hudson Securities.

Aquila ups size of deal

Heading north of the border to Canadian resources offerings, Aquila Resources Inc. upsized to C$20.6 million from C$10 million its previously announced private placement.

The offering, originally priced Nov. 21, now includes 12,484,848 units at C$1.65 each.

A syndicate of agents led by Jennings Capital Inc. has a greenshoe for up to 3,030,303 units.

The units are comprised of one share and one half-share warrant with each whole warrant exercisable at C$2.15 for two years.

The deal priced for 6,060,606 units under the same terms with a greenshoe of up to 3,030,303 units.

The company expects the deal to close Dec. 14.

The company's stock gained 7 cents, or 3.68%, to settle at C$1.97 Wednesday (TSX Venture: AQA).

Toronto-based Aquila is a copper, gold and silver exploration company.

Sheffield's stock rebounds

A day after wrapping two PIPEs for its subsidiary Pipex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Sheffield Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s stock made a comeback, gaining 12.67% Wednesday.

The stock climbed 19 cents on the day to close at $1.69 (OTCBB: SFPH). On Tuesday, when the offerings were settled, the stock gave up 14.77%, or 26 cents, to end at $1.50.

In the first of the two financings, Pipex sold units of 45,702 shares and warrants for 22,851 shares at $100,000 each.

In the second offering, the company sold about shares for proceeds of $9.2 million. The exact price per share could not be determined.

The units and shares were sold to Ridgeback Capital, Perceptive Life Sciences Fund, Firebird Capital, William Harris Investors, Chestnut Ridge Partners, AFA Private Equity of Michigan, SDS Capital, Gemini Strategies and Whalehaven Capital.

Accredited Equities Inc. was the placement agent for both deals.

Based in Ann Arbor, Mich., Pipex develops drug candidates for neurological and fibrotic diseases.

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