Pharmacyclics brings offering; Kayne Anderson settles two deals; BNC adds Aquiline as investor

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Portland, Ore., June 16 - Several double-digit deals were seen in Wednesday's PIPE market, across a variety of sectors, including biopharmaceutical and financial.

Pharmacyclics Inc. brought a registered direct offering of equity to market. The company is selling shares at a price equal to its June 15 closing price.

Meanwhile, Kayne Anderson MLP Investment Co. announced it had completed two private placement of common stock. The company raised nearly $36 million in its financing effort.

BNC Bancorp also wrapped a deal, taking in $35 million via a private placement of common share preferred stock. The transaction resulted in BNC adding a new investor to its register.

Also, GTC Biotherapeutics Inc. said it received $7 million from a strategic partner in exchange for convertible debt. The proceeds will be used, in part, to fund clinical trials.

Turbo Power Systems Inc. meantime closed a private placement of common shares, raising ₤6.5 million. One investor participated in the deal.

And, among new deals, Capella Resources Ltd. announced a private placement of units for proceeds of more than C$2 million. The proceeds will be used for exploration.

Pharmacyclics brings direct offering

Pharmacyclics announced a registered direct offering of stock totaling approximately $40 million.

The company will issue approximately 6.15 million common shares at $6.51 per share. The price per share is equal to the stock's June 15 closing price.

Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, including clinical trials and preclinical research expenses, as well as general and administrative expenses and working capital.

The company could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

Pharmacyclics' stock (Nasdaq: PCYC) gained 69 cents, or 10.6%, to $7.20. Market capitalization is $356.34 million.

Pharmacyclics is a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative small-molecule drugs for the treatment of immune-mediated diseases and cancer.

Kayne settles two deals

Houston-based Kayne Anderson MLP Investment said it had wrapped two private placements of common shares, raising a total of $35.85 million.

Inergy Holdings LP and Magellan Midstream Partners LP were the investors.

The company sold 1.5 million of the shares at $23.90 each. The price per share was based on a 5% discount to the five-day volume-weighted average price prior to the closing date.

Also, Kayne Anderson said it repurchased a total of $36.2 million common share units held by senior management of Inergy and Midstream.

"We are very pleased that we were able to complete these transactions as they accomplish two things for KYN," stated Kevin McCarthy, chief executive officer, in a press release.

"First, we were able to issue stock at a smaller discount than what we could accomplish through an underwritten secondary offering. Second, we were able to purchase MLP securities which are consistent with our investment objectives at a discount to the market."

Kayne's shares (NYSE: KYN) fell 4 cents, or 0.16%, to $25.75. Market capitalization is $1.51 billion.

Kayne Anderson MLP is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company.

BNC adds Aquiline as investor

BNC Bancorp pocketed $35 million from a private placement of common and preferred stock, according to a press release.

Aquiline Capital Partners LLC was the main investor, subscribing for 9.9% of the common shares issued and all of the preferred shares. The preferred shares were issued as a new class of non-voting securities, which are convertible into approximately 15% of BNC's outstanding common shares.

Certain members of BNC's board of directors also participated in the financing.

Both the common and preferred shares were sold at $10.00 per share. The price per share was a slight discount to the stock's closing price of $10.20 on June 15.

The proceeds will be used to support growth prospects, the company said in the release.

"We welcome and appreciate Aquiline's confidence in our management team, our franchise and the significant growth opportunities in the southeastern banking market," W. Swope Montgomery, CEO of BNC, said in the release.

BNC's equity (Nasdaq: BNCN) decreased a dime, or 0.98%, to $10.10. Market capitalization is $73.85 million.

BNC Bancorp is a Highpoint, N.C.-based holding company for Bank of North Carolina.

GTC gets funds from strategic partner

GTC Biotherapeutics, a Framingham, Mass.-based developer of therapeutic proteins, completed a $7 million private placement of secured convertible debt, the company said in a press release.

LFB Biotechnologies SAS, GTC's strategic partner, was the investor.

The 4% convertible debenture matures June 15, 2013 and is convertible into common stock at $0.42 per share.

The conversion price is equal to the stock's June 15 closing price.

The financing comes as GTC undertakes a restructuring of its operations, which will result in the downsizing of about 30 full-time positions at its headquarters and about 20 positions at its farm facility.

"We are pleased to announce this financing, which is a strong show of support from our strategic partner LFB Biotechnologies," commented William Heiden, the new CEO of GTC, in the release.

q"Looking ahead, GTC will concentrate its efforts on achieving three key goals: to progress the Factor VIIa program into first-in-man studies, currently expected to begin late this year; to improve the financial performance of ATryn, the first product developed, approved (in the US and EU) and manufactured using GTC's transgenic technology; to leverage the power of our transgenic platform to advance additional protein therapeutic candidates, especially in the area of 'bio-similar' product candidates."

"This investment is a demonstration of our continuing commitment to the GTC transgenic technology platform and our joint programs, including Factor VIIa," added Christian Bechon, president and CEO of LFB.

GTC's shares (OTCBB: GTCB) improved by 7 cents, or 16.67%, to $0.49. Market capitalization is $15.21 million.

Turbo Power wraps subscription sale

London-based Turbo Power Systems settled a private placement of common shares, taking in ₤6.5 million.

TAO Sustainable Power Solutions (UK) Ltd., a wholly owned United Kingdom subsidiary of Vale Solucoes em Energia SA, was the investor.

Turbo Power sold 1.08 billion common shares at 0.6p each.

The company's stock (London: TPS) closed at 1.18p.

Turbo Power Systems is a designer and manufacturer of innovative power solutions.

Capella seeks C$2.02 million

Capella Resources said it will raise up to C$2.02 million via a non-brokered private placement units.

The company will sell up to 20 million units at C$0.105 each. The units will hold one common share and one warrant. The warrants are exercisable at C$0.135 for two years.

The warrant's strike price is a 25% discount to the C$0.17 closing price as of June 15.

Proceeds will be used for exploration and working capital.

The company did not return calls seeking comment on Wednesday.

Capella's equity (TSX Venture: KPS) slipped 4½ cents, or 26.47%, to C$0.125. Market capitalization is C$5.88 million.

Capella Resources is a Vancouver, B.C.-based junior exploration and mineral development company.

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