Sino-Forest leads PIPE activity with C$232.4 million deal; Aura Gold prices C$70 million offering

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, April 10 - Although PIPE activity in the United States remained subdued Tuesday, several sizable offerings from north of the border made their way to market.

Stocks in the United States closed little moved, and one sellsider said he really could not see anything that would be keeping issuers back.

"Other than maybe just looking at oil to see what it's doing I really can't see anything that would be holding things back," he said.

Oil prices finished the day up 38 cents to close at $61.89 after sustaining some losses on Monday. Prices had reached more than $64 per barrel last week.

Stocks, meanwhile, barely budged. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 4.71 to close at 12,573.85; the Nasdaq composite index crept up 8.43 to close at 2,477.61; and the Standard & Poor's 500 composite index moved ahead 3.78 to end at 1,448.39.

Leading the pack of Canadian offerings Tuesday was a C$232.4 million non-brokered deal from Sino-Forest Corp.

The company sold 25.4 million shares at C$9.15 each to a group of institutional investors led by Temasek Holdings and United Capital Investments Group.

The deal was announced March 23 as a C$237.9 million offering of up to 26 million shares.

Proceeds will be used for the acquisition of standing timber, the construction or acquisition of a processing facility and for working capital.

The company's stock closed 13 cents higher at C$13.83 (Toronto: TRE).

Sino-Forest, based in Toronto, is a commercial forestry plantations operator in China.

Aura plans offering

Moving to the resources sector, Aura Gold Inc. negotiated the terms of a C$70 million private placement of subscription receipts.

The deal includes up to 87.5 million receipts at C$0.80 apiece.

Canaccord Capital Corp. is the lead underwriter for the deal. The syndicate has a greenshoe for up to 37.5 million additional receipts.

The receipts are exchangeable on a one-for-one basis for common stock once the company completes its acquisition of the Arapiraca project in Brazil.

Proceeds will be used to advance the project.

Aura's stock gained 7 cents, or 7.53%, on Tuesday to close at C$1.00 (Toronto: ORA).

BTB REIT proposes deal

Elsewhere in Canadian offerings, BTB Real Estate Investment Trust plans to raise up to C$40 million from a private placement of trust units.

The pricing of the deal has not yet been determined, but the deal will be placed through a syndicate of agents led by Blackmont Capital Inc.

Proceeds will be used for working capital and for announced and future acquisitions of income-producing properties.

The company expects the deal to close May 9.

The company's stock closed unmoved at C$2.65 Tuesday (TSX Venture: BTB).

Located in Montreal, BTB is a real estate investment trust focused on industrial, long-term leased office, commercial and retail properties.

Tutogen to raise $11.8 million

Among the few U.S. offerings from Tuesday was an $11.808 million stock deal announced by Tutogen Medical, Inc.

The company received agreements from a group of institutional investors to sell 1.6 million shares at $7.38.

The investors include HealthCor, Visium Asset Management, LLC and Deerfield Capital Management, LP.

The deal is slated to close April 30.

Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes and working capital.

On Tuesday, the company's stock gained 18 cents to settle at $9.09 (Amex: TTG). In after-hours activity, the stock slipped by 3 cents.

Based in Alachua, Fla., Tutogen develops sterile biological implant products made from human and animal tissue.

GeoPharma stock drops

Meanwhile, GeoPharma, Inc.'s stock slipped by 2.1% a day after announcing a $12.5 million private placement of convertible promissory notes and stock.

The company's stock gave up 9 cents to settle at $4.19 (Nasdaq: GORX). On Monday when the deal was announced, the stock fell 12 cents to close at $4.28 but gained 8 cents in after-hours trading.

In the placement, GeoPharma sold $10 million in notes that are convertible at $4.36 each and also sold shares for $2.5 million at $4.36 each.

Whitebox Pharmaceutical Growth Fund, Ltd. was the investor, and Rodman & Renshaw, LLC was the placement agent.

Proceeds will be used for the support of the company's sterile injectable and other ongoing generic pharmaceutical expansions, including plant infrastructure, equipment expansion, research and development and related working capital.

Based in Largo, Fla., GeoPharma develops over-the-counter, nutritional, generic drugs and functional food products.

MarkWest stock slides

In other secondary market news, MarkWest Energy Partners, LP saw its stock fall on Tuesday.

The company's stock gave up 40 cents to close at $34.00 Tuesday (Amex: MWE). On Monday, when the company announced its plans to settle a $135.218 million private placement, the stock climbed 35 cents to close at $34.40.

In the placement, the company plans to sell limited partnership units at $32.98 each to a group of investors that includes GPS Partners, LLC; Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, LP; Swank Capital, LLC; Tortoise Capital Advisors, LLC; and Zimmer Lucas Partners, LLC.

The unit price is a 5% discount to the company's $34.75 closing stock price on April 5.

Denver-based MarkWest operates midstream natural gas pipelines.

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