CEC Unet wraps $3.2 million offering of convertibles; Aura Minerals plans C$40 million placement

By Laura Lutz

Des Moines, May 7 - CEC Unet said it settled a $3.2 million private placement of convertibles.

As is often the case, the bulk of the day's PIPE news was from Canadian resource companies.

Aura Minerals Inc. announced plans for a C$40 million private placement of subscription receipts, and Fairborne Energy Ltd. said it will raise C$24.7 million from a private placement of shares.

Lero Gold Corp. announced the full exercise of a greenshoe in its private placement of shares, lifting that deal to C$66 million.

Aquiline Resources Inc. completed a private placement of units for C$15 million.

CEC Unet sells convertibles

CEC Unet said it sold $3.2 million of 3.5% unsecured convertible bonds to Evenstar Master Fund SPC.

The convertibles are due May 6, 2013. They are convertible into common shares at an initial conversion price of $0.0745, a 30% premium to the previous day's closing price.

Evenstar may buy up to $6.8 million more of the bonds. Any future issues will be repayable five years from the date of issue.

CEC Unet is a Chinese mobile services provider incorporated in Dublin, Ireland.

It said it will use the proceeds to expand its business in mainland China.

"Today's announcement illustrates the support for CEC Unet's growth strategy, and validates the company's business model in becoming the premier mobile and cross-medium electronic payment solutions provider in China," Li Gang, CEC Unet chief executive officer, said in a news release.

"With this fund raising, we will further fund our growth objectives to roll out top up services to mobile users in China by expanding into new provinces, and strengthen our competitive advantages in existing markets such as Henan, Guangdong and Beijing," he continued.

The company's shares gained 0.75p, or 23.08%, to close at 4p on Wednesday (London: CECU).

Aura to price receipts

Aura Minerals said it will price C$40 million of subscription receipts for an upcoming private placement.

Canaccord Capital Corp. will lead a syndicate of agents.

The agents have a C$20 million greenshoe.

All of the funds raised in this deal will immediately go into escrow and each subscription receipt will automatically convert into one common share on the escrow release date.

The Vancouver, B.C.-based mineral exploration company plans to use some of the proceeds for its acquisition of the Aranzazu project in Mexico.

The rest will be used for exploration, development and operation of the company's mineral projects, and for general corporate working capital purposes.

The escrowed funds will be released from escrow immediately prior to the closing of the Aranzazu acquisition, provided that certain conditions are met, including shareholder approval for the acquisition.

If those conditions are not met, the proceeds will be returned to the investors.

Settlement of the placement is expected on May 29.

The company's shares lost C$0.03, or 2.03%, to close at C$1.45 on Wednesday (Toronto: ORA).

Fairborne arranges share sale

Fairborne said it will sell 2 million common shares at C$12.35 apiece, for total proceeds of C$24.7 million.

The deal will be conducted by a syndicate of underwriters led by Cormark Securities Inc. and RBC Capital Markets and including Canaccord Capital Corp., National Bank Financial Inc., FirstEnergy Capital Corp., CIBC World Markets Inc. and Dundee Securities Corp.

There is a greenshoe for 300,000 shares, or C$3.7 million.

Settlement is expected May 28.

Fairborne is a Calgary, Alta.-based oil and natural gas exploration company. It said it will use the proceeds for exploration and development and for working capital.

Its shares gained C$0.31, or 2.93%, to finish Wednesday at C$10.90 (Toronto: FEL).

Lero takes in $66 million

Lero said Canaccord Adams exercised the C$6 million greenshoe in its private placement of shares, increasing the total deal size to C$66 million.

In the end, Lero sold 77,647,058 common shares on a bought-deal basis for C$0.85 apiece.

The placement originally priced on April 18 as a C$40 million offering with a C$6 million greenshoe and an option to increase the deal by C$20 million. Lero announced the exercise of that option on April 29.

Vancouver, B.C.-based Lero, formerly ELE Capital Corp., is a new base and precious metals exploration company.

Proceeds will be used to fund a C$25 million loan that Lero will give to European Minerals Corp. in connection with European Minerals' acquisition of Lero's outstanding shares, which was announced Friday, and for exploration, drilling, working capital and potential acquisitions.

The company's shares lost C$0.01, or 1.16%, to close at C$0.85 on Wednesday (TSX Venture: LER).

Aquiline gets C$15 million

Also wrapping up a deal was Aquiline, which said it raised C$15 million from a non-brokered private placement of units.

The company sold 1,818,182 units of one common share and one warrant at C$8.25 apiece. The warrants are exercisable at C$10.00 until Dec. 31, 2009.

Toronto-based Aquiline is a gold and silver exploration and development company. It said it will use the proceeds for exploration and development.

Aquiline's shares gained C$0.21, or 2.69%, on Wednesday to close at C$8.01 (Toronto: AQI).

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