PanAust extends $80 million loan, sees quick refinancing; Clifton Star downsizes; MacroSolve sells units

By Kenneth Lim

Boston, Jan. 5 - PanAust Ltd. negotiated a 13-month extension on an $80 million loan and said it is hopeful about refinancing the debt before its new maturity.

Clifton Star Resources Inc. downsized a unit placement to C$1.66 million to MineralFields Group.

MacroSolve, Inc. raised about $1.4 million through a placement of stock and warrant units to fuel its growth plans.

PanAust gets extension

PanAust said it extended the maturity of an $80 million debt as part of an amendment agreement with investor Goldman Sachs JBWere.

The facility's maturity date was extended to March 31, 2010 from February 2009.

The coupon rate was also raised to 12% from the original Libor plus 450 basis points. Reflecting expectations that PanAust will be able to refinance the deal soon, the coupon will increase to 15% after July 31, 2009. There is a redemption premium of between $2.5 million and $10 million linked to PanAust's market capitalization at the time of repayment.

Goldman Sachs JBWere will also receive 75 million warrants, exercisable at A$0.105 for three years. If any part of the loan is outstanding after July 31, Panaust will issue an additional 75 million three-year warrants at a strike price pegged at 10% above market prices.

PanAust common stock (ASX: PNA), which was halted from trading on Dec. 30, more than doubled to close at A$0.175 from A$0.085 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of A$251.5 million.

PanAust is a Brisbane, Australia-based precious and base metals exploration company.

"In parallel with negotiating rollover terms with GSJBW, PanAust has identified several potential funding sources to ultimately replace the GSJBW facility," PanAust managing director Gary Stafford said in a press release. "Consequently, we believe we will be able refinance the facility well before the new maturity date in 2010."

He added that the deal would improve PanAust's debt profile.

"It is encouraging that financial institutions are prepared to lend new money or extend existing facilities to companies with cost competitive and quality mining operations despite the prevailing liquidity constraints within global credit markets," he said.

Clifton Star downsizes

Clifton Star raised C$1.66 million from a downsized non-brokered private placement of units. The deal priced for C$2 million on Dec. 12.

The company sold about 1.32 million flow-through units of one share and one warrant a C$1.25 per unit to MineralFields Group. Each warrant is exercisable at C$1.25 for two years.

Clifton Star common stock (TSX: CFO) rose 11.51% or C$0.16 to close at C$1.55 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of C$33.6 million.

Clifton Star is based in Vancouver, B.C.

MacroSolve sells units

MacroSolve settled a $1.4 million non-brokered private placement of stock and warrant units.

The company sold 931,514 units at $1.50 apiece. Each unit comprised one common share and one three-year warrant. Each warrant has an exercise price at $2.25. MacroSolve common stock (OTCBB: MCVE) closed at $2.01 on Monday, unchanged from the day before. The company's market capitalization was $49.4 million.

Proceeds will be used to fuel growth initiatives designed to create additional high-margin recurring revenue streams for the company, including the launch of a web site and for marketing wireless applications.

Tulsa, Okla.-based MacroSolve is a provider of mobile data and mobile video business solutions.

Most of the units were taken by MacroSolve chairman James McGill and director John Clerico. The two directors took a total of $900,000 of the units offered. Of the amount that McGill and Clerico took, $402,507 were in exchange for promissory notes that had been issued by the company.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.