Private placement volume remains weak; Breaker Energy plans C$13.16 million offering

By Sheri Kasprzak

Atlanta, Feb. 8 - Private placement issuance remained flat Tuesday as both stocks and oil prices made slight gains.

Market sources, however, couldn't pinpoint what exactly is stalling private placement volume this week.

"Nothing in particular," said one Canadian source when asked why volume has been lower. "Normal ebbs and flows of the market."

"There's nothing to point to specifically," said another sell-side source in the United States. "I would agree that it's probably just normal market behavior."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 10.27 to close at 10,726.03; the Nasdaq composite index ended the day up 3.14 at 2,085.17 and the S&P 500 edged up 0.43 each at 1,202.15.

Oil prices also made slight gains Tuesday, rising just $0.12 to end at $45.40 per barrel.

Leading action in Canada, Breaker Energy Ltd. announced an upsized private placement for C$13,166,000.

The upsized offering calls for 3.49 million common shares at C$2.90 each and 870,000 flow-through shares at C$3.50 each.

The deal was announced Tuesday morning as a C$10.15 million deal of 2.8 million common shares and 580,000 flow-through shares at the same prices. A greenshoe option was exercised for an additional 690,000 common shares and an additional 290,000 flow-through shares.

The offering is being placed through a syndicate of underwriters led by Tristone Capital Inc.

The deal is being conducted as part of Breaker's plans to buy a long-life natural gas property central Alberta. The acquisition is expected to cost $14.15 million.

Breaker Energy, based in Calgary, Alta., is an oil and gas company.

On Tuesday, the company's stock closed down C$0.05 at C$3.15.

Proxim raises $9.02 million

Proxim Corp. received agreements Tuesday for a $9,018,000 direct placement.

The company sold 5.01 million class A common shares at $1.80 each.

Warrants for one half of a share were also issued in the offering. The warrants allow for an additional share at $2.35 each for two years, exercisable beginning six months after issuance. A maximum of 2,505,000 shares can be issued upon the exercise of the warrants.

"It's a pretty good deal," said one market source. "I would just point to the fact that it's a direct placement. The company, I think, will really benefit from doing the deal this way."

Even so, Proxim's stock suffered slight losses Tuesday, closing down $0.04 at $1.89.

The shares are being sold under Proxim's shelf registration.

East Peak Advisors, LLC was the financial advisor in the deal.

Based in Sunnyvale, Calif., Proxim is a wireless network equipment provider.

New Horizons closes $6 million deal

New Horizons Worldwide Inc. wrapped up a $6 million private placement of convertible preferred stock.

The company sold 1.6 million convertible preferred shares to Camden Partners Holdings LLC at $3.75 each.

The preferreds pay annual dividends of 6% and are convertible into common shares at $3.75 each.

"This investment from Camden Partners provides us the flexibility to pursue strategic opportunities as they arise and strengthens our balance sheet," said New Horizon's president and chief executive officer Thomas Bresnan in a statement. "Camden Partners has a track record of adding value to its investments and has a unique focus on small-cap public companies.

New Horizons is an Anaheim, Calif.-based internet training company.

On Tuesday, the company's stock closed down $0.259 at $4.621.

Acies wraps deal

Acies Corp. closed a private placement for $1,067,500, the company said.

The company sold 8.54 million shares at $0.125 each.

Warrants for 8.54 million shares were also issued in the offering. The warrants are exercisable at $0.25 each through Feb. 3, 2010.

"We are very excited by this funding, and the quality of shareholders attracted to our company," said Oleg Firer, the company's president and chief executive officer, in a statement. "We anticipate these funds will assist us with executing our business plan in an aggressive manner, and have the resources to grow both organically and through selected acquisitions that we anticipate will be accretive to our top and bottom lines."

The company may raised an additional $2,135,000 in proceeds from the offering if the warrants are fully exercised, bringing the full proceeds to $3,202,500.

Based in New York, Acies is a holding company for Acies, Inc., a payment processing services and online banking services company.

The company's stock closed down $0.02 at $0.22 on Tuesday.

China Yuchai's stock dips

A day after announcing a $25 million private placement and its acquisition of stake in Thakral Corp. Ltd., China Yuchai International Ltd.'s stock took a tumble.

The company's stock ended the day down $0.16 at $10.95. On Monday, after the acquisition and private placement of a convertible bond was announced, the company's stock ended down $0.79 at $11.10.

The bond is convertible into shares at $12.969 each.

China Yuchai, based in Singapore, manufactures diesel motors.

CV Therapeutics continues to drop

Three days after receiving $25,000,108 from an equity private placement, CV Therapeutics Inc.'s stock continued to dive.

The company made significant gains after the announcement of the closing of the private placement with Acqua Wellington North American Equities Fund Ltd.

However, on Tuesday, the company's stock dropped $0.25 to close at $21.75. On Friday, the company's stock leapt $0.95 to close at $22.42.

In the private placement, which is part of a $100 million equity purchase agreement between CV Therapeutics and Acqua Wellington, CV Therapeutics sold 1,275,711 shares at $19.597 each.

CV Therapeutics, based in Palo Alto, Calif., develops drugs to treat certain types of cancers.

Multiband makes gains

After announced the closing of its $10 million private placement of convertible preferred stock, Multiband Corp. saw its stock rise Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the company gained $0.08 to close at $1.60.

On Monday, after the deal was announced, the company's stock lost $0.10 to close at $1.52.

The preferreds are convertible into common shares at $1.50 each.

Based in New Hope, Minn., Multiband provides voice, data and video systems and services to businesses, governments and multiple dwelling units.

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