Mikohn Gaming to raise up to $40 million in convertible note offering; volume takes a downward turn

By Sheri Kasprzak

Atlanta, June 17 - Las Vegas-based Mikohn Gaming Corp. led private placement news Friday with word that it plans to sell up to $40 million in convertible notes as part of a joint development and distribution agreement.

The company plans to sell up to $40 million in 6% senior subordinated convertible notes to International Game Technology. The offering is part of an agreement between the two companies under which International Game will sell and distribute table gaming products developed by Mikohn.

The notes mature in six years and are convertible into common shares at $12.19 each.

Mikohn develops products used in the gaming industry.

The company's stock dropped $0.38, or 2.44%, to close at $15.20 Friday, losing another $0.05 in after-hours trading.

In the broader PIPE market, oil surged well above $58 per barrel Friday, leading sell-siders to speculate that energy companies may come out in droves early next week to conduct private placements.

"It's the perfect level for an inundation," said one sell-sider familiar with the natural resources sector. "Even if oil companies don't come out en masse with deals, we can expect to see some."

After climbing to $58.60 per barrel - a new record high - oil settled up $1.89 to close at $58.47 per barrel.

"Any time oil climbs by that much, you can expect more deals," said another sell-sider. "It's just common sense. You do have to consider that there is investor demand as well, so when you combine the two, I think it's inevitable."

Among the oil companies with offerings up for grabs Friday were Grand Petroleum Inc. with a C$9.87 million offering and Admiral Bay Resources Inc. with a C$5 million deal.

Moving away from oil, sell-siders said volume in general slipped slightly.

"There's nothing in particular really," said one market source when asked what might be holding volume back. "Just Friday."

Stocks, which have made only minor gains throughout the week, continued the trend Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 44.42 to close at 10,623.07; the Nasdaq composite index edged up 0.96 to end at 2,090.11 and the S&P 500 closed up 6 at 1,216.96.

Richmont Mines' C$15.9 million deal

Moving to Canada and the mineral exploration sector, Montreal-based Richmont Mines Inc. announced its plans to raise C$15,905,400 in a private placement.

The company plans to sell 3,246,000 shares at C$4.90 each.

"Minerals in general have done well all week," said one market source familiar with the sector. "It looks fine."

The price per share is a 9.3% discount to Richmont's closing stock price of C$5.40 on Thursday.

After the deal was announced Friday afternoon, Richmont's stock gained two pennies, closing at C$5.42.

The offering is being placed by a syndicate of underwriters led by BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc.

The proceeds will be used for exploration and development activities on two of the company's gold properties, the purchase of mine equipment and general corporate purposes.

AXS-One raises $6.75 million

Rutherford, N.J.-based AXS-One Inc. said it has secured $6.75 million from a private placement of stock.

The offering includes 4,530,201.34228 at $1.49 each to institutional investors and members of the company's management.

The investors will also receive three-year warrants for 20% of the number of shares issued in the offering, exercisable at $1.90 each and $2.15 each in two equal tranches.

Kaufman Bros., LP was the placement agent.

Once the deal is completed, Anthony Bloom will join AXS-One's board of directors.

"We are pleased that several notable institutions have committed investment capital in AXS-One, and we welcome Tony Bloom to our board," said Bill Lyons, the company's chief executive officer, in a statement.

Based in Rutherford, N.J., AXS-One produces software used for records management.

Bernard Chaus raises $6 million

Back to the United States, women's clothing manufacturer Bernard Chaus, Inc. has closed a $6 million offering as part of a licensing agreement with Kenneth Cole Productions Inc.

As part of the agreement, Bernard Chaus sold 6 million shares at $1 each to Kenneth Cole.

The terms of the licensing agreement allow Chaus to design, manufacture and sell women's sportswear under the Kenneth Cole Reaction trademark.

Bernard Chaus is based in New York.

The company's stock gained $0.02, or 1.85%, to close at $1.10 after suffering a dip earlier in the day.

Gyrus' stock rises

A day after announcing its plans to raise £153,900,062 in a private placement, Gyrus Group plc's stock made gains.

The company's stock rose 6.13p to close at 288.13p.

After the deal was first announced Thursday, the company's stock closed up 21.5p to end at 282p. The company plans to use the proceeds to fund a portion of its acquisition American Cystoscope Makers Inc., a company that makes medical devices for the urology and gynecology sectors.

Heading up private placement news was an offering from across the pond.

The company plans to sell shares at 250p each.

Gyrus, based in Cardiff, Wales, makes surgical instruments.

Secured Services' stock closes up

Two days after closing a $7 million convertible debenture offering, Secured Services Inc.'s stock continued to make gains.

The company stock closed up $0.08, or 6.56%, Friday to end at $1.30.

On Thursday, the company's stock gained $0.19 to close at $1.22. Secured Services' stock remained unchanged at $1.03 on Wednesday when the closing was first announced.

The debentures are convertible into a total of 5,837,146 common shares.

Based in New York, Secured Services is a software company focused on identity and access-management security products.

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