Private placement volume subdued on mixed stocks; Valkyries plans C$18 million offering

By Sheri Kasprzak

Atlanta, Feb. 14 - Private placement volume remained flat Monday as stocks were mixed, even as some Canadian issuers benefited from slightly higher oil prices.

"I wouldn't say volume was low today because there were quite a few things out there," said one sell-side source. "Mostly smaller deals, but I think the issuers with the big offerings are holding back for a while until the market steadies itself."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 4.88 to end at 10,791.13; the Nasdaq composite index climbed 6.25 to close at 2,082.91 and the S&P 500 edged up 0.84 to end at 1,206.14.

Oil prices also climbed, gaining $0.19 to close at $47.35 per barrel.

A Canadian oil company led private placement news Monday when Valkyries Petroleum Corp. announced its plans to raise up to C$18 million.

The company plans to sell up to 6 million shares at C$3 each.

"They were helped I'd say by higher oil," said one Canadian sell-sider. "The pricing looks good. The oil sector is a strong one. Oil stocks are directly affected by oil prices."

Based in Vancouver, B.C., Valkyries is an oil and gas exploration and production company. The proceeds will be used for the acquisition of a producing asset in southern Russia and for general corporate purposes.

On Monday, Valkyries' stock ended up C$0.01 at C$3.30.

Vision-Sciences' $10 million deal

Vision-Sciences, Inc. raised $10 million in a private placement of 3,703,702 shares.

The shares were sold at $2.70 each to four investors.

The investors also received warrants for 1,103,704 shares at $3.75 each for five years.

Rodman & Renshaw LLC was the placement agent.

"This placement will allow us to enhance our operations and accelerate our product development activities for our current markets," said the company's president and chief executive officer Ron Hadani, in a statement. "In addition, it will allow us to expand our product development activities to include new applications for new markets."

Based in Natick, Mass., Vision-Sciences develops, manufactures and markets endoscopic products. The proceeds will be used for product development activities.

On Monday, the company's stock closed down $0.05 at $2.96.

Eagle raises $8.2 million

Eagle Broadband, Inc. wrapped a private placement for $8.2 million, after dropping the price of the shares.

The company sold 20 million shares at $0.41 each. The price was dropped from an original $0.45 each.

The Keystone Equities Group was the placement agent in the deal.

"We are very pleased to have secured this funding to help support our capital needs and finance continued company growth," said Dave Weisman, Eagle's chief executive officer, in a statement.

"Over the last year, Eagle has repositioned itself with several key product and service offerings addressing high-growth areas. We have numerous initiatives underway in each of our core markets to drive revenue and profit growth. The proceeds of the offering will give us the ability to further accelerate our engineering, sales and marketing efforts within these markets to ensure the company's long-term success."

Eagle is a wireline and wireless network services provider based in League City, Texas. The company plans to use the proceeds to accelerate its expansion plans and growth of its three core areas. The remainder will be used for general corporate purposes.

The company's stock closed up $0.02 at $0.47 Monday.

Grand Banks plans C$4.9 million deal

Grand Banks Energy Corp. plans to head to the private placement market with a C$4,875,000 offering.

The offering includes 2.5 million flow-through common shares at C$1.95 each.

The deal is being placed through an underwriting syndicate led by Haywood Securities Inc.

The private placement comes with an over-allotment option for 500,000 shares.

"It's priced at a premium, which can be good or bad," said one market source. "On one hand, if it's well received by investors, it will be good for them. But if it's not, they may have to settle for less than what they were planning to raise.

"Because it has a greenshoe attached to it, I'm thinking the response has probably already been good."

Based in Calgary, Alta., Grand Banks is an oil and gas exploration company. The proceeds from the private placement will be used for exploration and development, including its participation in an expanded high-impact deep gas exploration program.

The company's stock closed down C$0.02 at C$1.65 Monday.

Augusta plans C$2 million offering

Augusta Resource Corp. plans to raise up to C$2 million in a private placement.

The offering includes up to 2 million units at C$1 each. The units are comprised of one share and one half-share warrant.

The whole warrants allow for an additional share at C$1.25 each for one year.

"It looks like the market is responding well to it," said one market source. "Its stock has taken off today, so that's a good sign. The discount isn't too high, the warrants are reasonable. It seems like a solid offering."

After the offering was announced, the company's stock soared C$0.52 to close at C$1.80.

Based in Vancouver, B.C., Augusta is a diamond exploration company. The proceeds from the private placement will be used for its Mount Hamilton project and for general working capital.

Tiger Telematics drops

After announcing its $19.5 million private placement closed late last week, Tiger Telematics Inc.'s stock took a dip Monday.

The company's stock ended the day down $0.25 at $29. On Feb. 11, when the company first announced the closing, Tiger's stock jumped $1 to end at $28.80.

The company sold shares at prices ranging from $15 each to $25 each, as its stock rose.

Tiger Telematics, based in Jacksonville, Fla., designs, develops and markets mobile telematic systems.

Airtrax suffers losses

Airtrax, Inc.'s stock dove Monday after closing a $5 million private placement of convertible promissory notes Feb. 11.

Airtrax's stocks plummeted $0.37 Monday to close at $2. On Feb. 11, the company's stock gained $0.17 to close at $2.37.

The notes involved in the deal are convertible at $1.30 each.

Based in Hammonton, N.J., Airtrax develops and manufactures a wheel capable of turning in every direction.

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