Dominion Petroleum raises £32.74 million; Verena ups units greenshoe; netTalk seals $5 million

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Portland, Ore., March 1 - The PIPE market saw many single-digit deals on Monday but not very many larger-sized transactions.

Dominion Petroleum Ltd. had one of the day's biggest financings, raising £32.74 million via private placement of equity. Proceeds will be used to fund a drill program.

Meanwhile, Verena Minerals Corp. announced it had increased the size of a greenshoe tied to a C$5 million private placement of units. The over-allotment option was lifted to C$1 million.

netTalk.com Inc. said it had taken in $5 million from a private placement of convertible preferred shares. The shares were sold to a single investor.

Also, NXT Nutritional Holdings Inc. closed its second and final tranche in a private placement of discounted convertible notes. The company raised nearly $6 million total in the deal.

Dominion raises project funds

Dominion Petroleum wrapped a £32.74 million, or approximately $50 million, private placement of ordinary shares, according to a press release.

The Hamilton, Bermuda-based oil and gas company sold 654.88 million of the shares at 5p per share.

Proceeds will be used for a drilling program at Exploration Area 4B in Uganda, as well as acquiring seismic in the emerging East African margin play of offshore Tanzania's Block 7.

"We decided to raise these new funds to enable us to expedite an active and extremely promising exploration and drilling program at higher working interest levels," commented Andrew Cochran, chief executive officer, in the release. "Suitable drilling and seismic equipment is already available in both Uganda and Tanzania such that we should be able to implement the program within our accelerated timetable."

Dominion's stock (London: DPL) closed at 5.09p. Market capitalization is £51.4 million.

Verena lifts greenshoe

Verena Minerals increased the size of its over-allotment option in a previously announced private placement of units.

The deal originally priced Feb. 19 at C$5 million with a C$500,000 greenshoe. The greenshoe was increased to C$1 million.

The company will sell 20 million units at C$0.25 each on a best-efforts basis. The units will contain one common share and one warrant, which is exercisable at C$0.50 for two years.

Forbes & Manhattan Inc. is the lead investor.

Proceeds will be used to develop the Volta Grande Gold Project and commence an aggressive exploration program at the Patrocinio Gold Project, both located in Para State, Brazil. Settlement is expected by March 2.

Verena's equity (TSX Venture: VML) gained 1½ cents, or 4.41%, to C$0.355. Market capitalization is C$35.9 million.

Verena Minerals is a Toronto-based mineral exploration company.

netTalk seals $5 million

netTalk.com, a Miami, Fla.-based provider of voice over internet protocol products and services, settled a $5 million private placement of series A convertible preferred stock, according to a regulatory filing and subsequent press release.

The deal closed Feb. 24. Vicis Capital Master Fund was the investor.

In addition to the preferred shares, Vicis also received warrants equal to 20 million common shares. The warrants are exercisable at $0.50 per share.

"We are most appreciative of the continuing confidence placed in us by our core investor who continues to support the implementation of our business," said Anastasios "Takis" Kyriakides, chairman, in the press release.

"The new funding will be used to further grow the company, focusing on production, sales and marketing and expansion of the TK6000 telecommunications network, as well as, supporting services and products."

netTalk's stock (OTCBB: NTLK) ended steady at $0.55. Market capitalization is $5.35 million.

NXT wraps convertible deal

NXT Nutritionals pocketed $3.32 million in the second tranche of its private placement of 0% original issue discount senior secured convertible notes, the company said in a press release.

The deal originally priced for up to $6 million on Feb. 17. On that date, the company raised $2.35 million. The second portion closed Feb. 26.

All told, the company has raised proceeds of $5.67 million.

The notes are initially convertible at $1.00 per common share. The principal is equal to 115% of the proceeds.

Investors also received 100% warrant coverage, exercisable at $1.25 for five years.

"We have once again demonstrated the confidence our investors have in our company and in our ability to potentially change the sweetener market with Susta," said Michael McCarthy, president and CEO, in the release. "This is an exciting time for us as we continue to roll out Susta nationally.

"We believe that the capital raised from the private placement will enable us to execute our business plan as we position the company to capture a significant share of the alternative sweetener market," McCarthy added. "I want to thank the team at NXT Nutritionals for all of their hard work as well as our investors and shareholders for making the financing a successful milestone."

NXT's shares (OTCBB: NXTH) dropped 2 cents, or 1.80%, to $1.09. Market capitalization is $41.2 million.

NXT Nutritionals is a Holyoke, Mass.-based developer of proprietary, patent-pending healthy alternative sweeteners, food and beverage products.

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