Electro-Optical secures equity facility; Cytori to issue units; Yongye completes stock offering

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Portland, Ore., May 8 - Electro-Optical Sciences Inc. brought one of several larger-sized deals to the private placement market on Friday.

The medical device developer said it secured a $45 million three-year committed equity facility. The company said the new financing would allow for greater flexibility in its funding needs.

In other medical-related issuers, Cytori Therapeutics Inc. released new details regarding a private placement of units announced on Thursday. In an interview with Prospect News, a company spokesman said that the terms were pleasing to the company.

Among completed deals, Yongye Biotechnology International Inc. settled a nearly $9 million placement of stock. The company also revised its full-year guidance, partially as a result of the new funds.

Vast Exploration Inc. hopes to raise C$5 million in a best-efforts private placement of units. The company will use proceeds to further development at one of its mining properties.

London-based homebuilder Taylor Wimpey plc will take in £532.78 million in a private stock sale. Net proceeds are expected to be around £510 million, all of which will be used to pay down existing debt.

Electro-Optical secures facility

Electro-Optical Sciences arranged a $45 million three-year committed equity facility with Kingsbridge Capital Ltd., according to a press release.

Kingsbridge will purchase stock from Electro-Optical at a price dictated by the current market price. The price will also reflect a discount ranging from 6% to 10%. The numbers of shares sold under the facility may not exceed 19.99% of the company's existing outstanding shares.

Kingsbridge also received warrants good for 200,000 additional shares. The warrants are exercisable at $11.35, which represents a premium over the company's current trading price.

"This financing facility provides us great flexibility in choosing if, and when, to access funds, thereby minimizing shareholder dilution," stated Joseph V. Gulfo, MD, president and chief executive officer, in the release. "We view this as an important secondary source of capital to that of more traditional equity financings. The funds are available to us as we proceed through the regulatory pathway and commercialization process for MelaFind, our non-invasive, point of care, computerized system for early melanoma detection."

Electro-Optical's equity (Nasdaq: MELA) gained $0.2587, or 3.30%, to $8.1087. Market capitalization is $140 million.

Electro-Optical Sciences is an Irvington, N.Y.-based developer of medical devices used to detect melanoma.

Cytori to issue units

Cytori Therapeutics gave new details Friday about a $4.25 million non-brokered private placement of units originally priced on Thursday.

The company will issue approximately 1.86 million common shares with 175% warrant coverage, according to a regulatory filing. The units will sell at $2.28 per unit and each whole warrant is exercisable at $2.62 for five years.

The warrants equal up to approximately 3.26 million additional shares.

"The funds will be used for sales and marketing activities related to the commercialization of the Celution System and consumables as well as other related and complementary products in Europe, for ongoing clinical studies of the Celution System for breast reconstruction and cardiovascular disease, and for general working capital," the company said in the press release issued Thursday.

Tom Baker, director of Cytori's investor relations, told Prospect News Friday that a "group of investors had approached the company," expressing interest in purchasing more equity. The company then engaged in negotiations with the group and "based on that, we negotiated the terms accordingly."

"The greater the valuation the better, but we were pleased to get a premium," Baker said of the deal terms.

Cytori's stock (Nasdaq: CYTX) increased 43 cents, or 21.29%, to $2.45. Market capitalization is $69.8 million.

Cytori Therapeutics is based in San Diego.

Yongye sells $8.98 million of stock

Yongye Biotechnology International said it settled an $8.98 million private placement of stock.

The Beijing-based company sold 5.83 million common shares at $1.54 per share, a discount to where the company's stock last traded.

The company said that the financing was necessary as orders for its products began to increase in late 2008.

"These additional orders led Yongye to seek additional financing," the company said in a press release. "The company plans to use the proceeds of the current private placement as working capital to help ensure that it can fill all of the orders it has already received and continues to receive from the independent distributors."

Furthermore, Yongye revised its guidance due to the increased sales that the private placement will help support. For fiscal 2009, Yongye expects revenue to fall between $82 million and $84 million, up from previous estimates of $66 million. Net income is expected to be $23 million to $24 million, compared with the $15.8 million previously announced.

"We undertook great effort in 2008 to build up Yongye's marketing and technical support functions so that they could support, scale with and drive expansion of the distribution network," said Zishen Wu, CEO, in the release. "We can now measure the successful results of this strategy through the increased number of orders we received. The funds from this new private placement will help us fill the orders we received for our upcoming busy season, the second and third quarters of the year."

Yongye's shares (OTCBB: YGYB) gained 15 cents, or 8.11%, to $2.00.

Yongye Biotechnology International is engaged in the research, development, production and sales of fulvic acid-based liquid and powder nutrient compounds used in the agriculture industry.

Vast plans best-efforts placement

Vast Exploration is planning to raise C$5 million via a best-efforts private placement of units, the company announced.

Under the terms of the deal, the company will sell units containing one common share and one half-share warrant at C$0.40 per unit. Each whole two-year warrant is exercisable at C$0.50.

"Vast intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to further exploration of the Qara Dagh block and for working capital purposes," the company said in a statement.

Settlment is expected by June 4.

Vast's shares (TSX Ventures: VST) fell C$0.025, or 5.95%, to C$0.395. Market capitalization is C$44.4 million.

Vast Exploration is a Calgary-based oil and gas exploration and production company.

Taylor to take in £532.78 million

Homebuilder Taylor Wimpey hopes to take in £532.78 million though a private placement of ordinary stock.

The London-based company will sell approximately 2.13 billion new shares at 25p per share, a 48% discount to the stock's closing price as of May 7.

The homebuilder said that the funds from the transaction will serve to improve its balance sheet, as the entire net proceeds will be used to pay down existing debt.

"Based on current net debt levels, the fundraising will deliver interest costs savings that are expected to exceed: £60 million for the remainder of 2009; £145 million in financial year ended 31 December 2010; [and] £220 million in financial year ended 31 December 2011," the company said in a press release.

"This fundraising builds on the recently announced amendment of our debt facilities to strengthen our capital structure," stated Norman Askew, chairman of Taylor Wimpey, in the release. "Taylor Wimpey is now better-positioned to take advantage of the opportunities offered by our existing asset base and any future upturns in our markets in order to create value for shareholders."

"We have taken the difficult decisions necessary to protect the inherent value in the group," added Pete Redfern, group chief executive. "Whilst we remain focused on managing cash tightly, following this equity raise, we are now in a strong position to focus on a return to profitability and to place Taylor Wimpey at the forefront of any housing market recovery."

Taylor's stock (London: TW) closed at 37p. Market capitalization is £514 million.

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