NextWave concludes with $355 million convertibles issue; Idaho General Mines raises $25 million

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, March 29 - A tech company led PIPE news on Thursday despite a warning from a market insider that technology companies may begin to lose their luster in the market.

"I suspect tech is just starting to drop off as an issuer," said one sellside market source Thursday afternoon. "We'll see a few here and there. A lot seem to be project-specific or merger-specific. In the big picture, I think their reign may be over, at least for now."

NextWave Wireless Inc. wrapped up a private placement of convertible preferred stock for $355 million.

The company sold 355,000 shares of the preferreds at $1,000 apiece.

The preferreds are convertible into common shares at $11.05 each. The conversion price is a 10.5% premium to the company's $10.00 closing stock price on Wednesday.

UBS was the placement agent.

Proceeds will be used for the development of new wireless technologies, the expansion of the company's business and for future strategic acquisitions.

The company's stock gave up a penny on Thursday to close at $9.99 (Nasdaq: WAVE).

"These investments, by both new and existing investors, are a concrete expression of confidence in the future of NextWave," said Allen Salmasi, the company's chief executive officer, in a news release.

"We intend to use the proceeds from this transaction to accelerate the commercialization of our next-generation family of multi-band, integrated WiMAX and Wi-Fi semiconductor products and network components, and to support strategic initiatives to further strengthen our position in the wireless broadband industry."

NextWave, based in San Diego, develops wireless broadband products and technologies for mobile device and network manufacturers.

Idaho General secures $25 million

In the resources sector, Idaho General Mines, Inc. announced plans to settle a $24.99 million offering of 7.35 million units.

The units, comprised of one share and one half-share warrant, were priced at $3.40 each. The whole warrants are exercisable at $5.20 each for one year.

Investors include Sprott Asset Management Inc. on behalf of affiliates Coghill Capital Management, LLC and Huizenga Capital Management, LLC.

The first tranche of the deal, for $14 million, was expected to close Thursday. The remaining tranche will close April 10.

After the offering was announced Thursday morning, the company's stock climbed 17 cents or 4.12% to end the day at $4.30 (Amex: GMO). However, the stock gave up 31.67 cents in after-hours trading activity.

Proceeds will be used for permitting and the development of the company's Hall-Tonopah molybdenum project. The rest will be used for general corporate purposes.

Idaho General is a Spokane, Wash.-based mineral exploration company.

The offering comes as oil prices continued to spike, this time gaining $1.95 to close at $66.03 per barrel.

"It's not just about energy companies anymore," said one Vancouver, B.C.-based market source who follows natural resource offerings. "It's impacting gold, it's impacting other minerals; and so, sure, you're going to see more of these types of deals in the market."

Resources deals hit Canada

The news prompted a few large offerings north of the border.

Adanac Molybdenum Corp. negotiated the terms of a C$30 million private placement on Thursday.

That deal includes up to 15,789,474 units at C$1.90 each. The units consist of one share and one half-share warrant, the whole of which is exercisable at C$3.00 each for two years.

In the already active gold sector, Claude Resources Inc. priced a C$20 million offering of 12.5 million shares at C$1.60 each.

The underwriters in that deal have a greenshoe for up to 1.875 million additional shares.

The offering is set to close April 24, and proceeds will be used for development on the Nadsen exploration project.

Claude is based in Saskatoon, Sask. The stock fell 7 cents to end at C$1.63 (Toronto: CRJ).

Calypte raises $5.2 million

Moving to the biotech sector, Calypte Biomedical Corp. sealed a $5.2 million private placement with a group of investors led by David Khidasheli, chairman of Informap Production LLC.

The company sold 100 million shares to Khidasheli and three other accredited investors. The investors also received warrants for 150 million shares, exercisable at $0.09 each for 18 months.

Proceeds will be used for investments and working capital.

Connected to the offering, the company extended the maturity on its 8% secured convertible notes and its 7% promissory notes held by Marr Technologies BV to April 3, 2009 from April 3, 2007.

"I have watched Calypte over the past several years following Marr's investment in the company in 2003," said Khidasheli in a statement. "The company's humanitarian focus interested me from the beginning. With the company's Aware HIV-½ rapid oral fluid tests beginning to sell, we believe it is the right time to bring our combined networks' resources to this business.

"I envision a combination of government and private sector-led programs involving sales while also taking advantage of local manufacturing and R&D [research and development] opportunities. I expect to be able to support Calypte's increased visibility and presence in those countries in which I have worked for many years."

Khidasheli went on to say that he and the company are in talks to expand into a worldwide focus with Asia at the top of the list.

On Thursday, the company's stock gained 12.7% to end at $0.071 (OTCBB: CBMC).

Based in Lake Oswego, Ore., Calypte develops diagnostic tools to detect sexually transmitted diseases like HIV.

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