WaferGen plans $7 million unit sale; Hythiam ups direct offering; Elephant Talk completes deal

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Portland, Ore., July 2 - WaferGen Bio-systems Inc. announced a $7 million registered direct offering on Friday.

The company is selling units in the financing effort. A company insider has agreed to purchase $1 million of the units.

In other registered direct news, Hythiam Inc. said it had upped the amount it was seeking from a registered direct offering of stock. The company now hopes to raise over $4 million, compared to its original intent of just $3.5 million.

Among settled deals, Elephant Talk Communications Inc. closed a private placement of units, taking in nearly $6.5 million.

And, Fortune Minerals Ltd. said it had pocketed almost C$2 million from a completed private placement of stock.

WaferGen plans $7 million sale

WaferGen Bio-systems will raise $7 million via a registered direct offering of units, according to a press release.

The company's chairman and chief executive officer, Alnoor Shivji, has agreed to subscribe for $1 million of the offering.

The company is selling approximately 5.8 million of the units at $1.20 each. The units will hold one common share and one half-share warrant.

Whole warrants are exercisable at $1.55 for five years. The strike price represents a 27.05% premium over the July 1 closing shares price of $1.22.

Proceeds will be used for working capital, "including for the commercialization of the WaferGen SmartChip Real-Time PCR System including the scale up of manufacturing capabilities to produce SmartChip instruments and chips and other general operating expenses," the company said in the release. Settlement is expected by July 7.

The company could not be reached for comment on Friday.

WaferGen's stock (OTCBB: WGBS) dropped 30 cents, or 24.59%, to $0.92. Market capitalization is $31.17 million.

WaferGen Bio-systems is a Fremont, Calif.-based developer of laboratory analytical instruments for gene expression, genotyping and stem-cell research for the life sciences and pharmaceutical drug discovery industries.

Hythiam ups direct offering

Hythiam, a Los Angeles-based provider of behavioral health services, announced it had increased the size of a previously announced registered direct offering of common stock.

The deal originally priced on June 30 for $3.5 million. The company now intends to raise $4.08 million.

Hythiam will sell 20.4 million of the shares at $0.20 each. That is a 25% discount to the June 20 closing price of $0.25, but is a 20% premium over the July 1 closing share price of $0.16.

Investors will also receive warrants equal to 15.3 million additional shares. The warrants are exercisable at $0.20 for five years.

Proceeds will be used for working capital, capital expenditures and other general corporate purposes, including the potential repayment of outstanding debt. Settlement is expected by Aug. 15.

The company did not return calls seeking comment on Friday.

Hythiam's equity (Nasdaq: HYTM) gained a cent, or 4.52%, to $0.16. Market capitalization is $11.57 million.

Elephant Talk deal done

Orange, Calif.-based Elephant Talk Communications, a long-distance communications carrier, completed a private placement of units, taking in $6.46 million, according to a regulatory filing.

The deal settled June 28.

The units included common shares and a total of 5.38 million warrants. The warrants are exercisable at $1.50 for five years.

The strike price represents a 21.33% discount to the June 28 closing price of $1.82.

Elephant Talk's shares (OTCBB: ETAK) gained 8 cents, or 4.40%, to $1.90.

Fortune gets exploration funds

Fortune Minerals wrapped a C$1.98 million non-brokered private placement of stock, the company announced.

The Toronto-based mineral resource company sold approximately 2.53 million flow-through shares at C$0.78 each.

Proceeds will be used for exploration work, including drilling, metallurgical testwork, environmental testing, and engineering studies for its NICO gold-cobalt-bismuth-copper project in the Northwest Territories.

Fortune's equity (Toronto: FT) improved by a cent, or 1.59%, to C$0.64. Market capitalization is C$60.66 million.

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