Alatair Nanotechnologies Announces Completion Of $40 Million Private Placement
Altair Nanotechnologies Inc. announced the completion of a $40 million private placement of its common stock to Al Yousuf LLC.
Under the purchase agreement, Altairnano has agreed to issue an aggregate of 11,428,572 shares of common stock to Al Yousuf LLC at a purchase price of $3.50 per share. The shares will be contractually restricted from resale for at least two years, with one-third of the shares being released from this restriction on the second, third and fourth anniversaries respectively.
"The funding is intended to support manufacturing growth, working capital and general corporate purposes as we expand the production of our advanced power and energy storage products," said Altairnano President and Chief Executive Officer Alan J. Gotcher, Ph.D. "The strategic investment partnership with Al Yousuf allows us to continue to have an impact on the dynamics of the transportation and stationary power markets."
"We see the tremendous global growth opportunity for Altairnano’s innovative battery technology in both the transportation and stationary power markets," said Iqbal Al Yousuf, President of Al Yousuf LLC. "Given our transportation expertise, we believe these markets are ready for Altairnano’s clean, powerful and scaleable energy storage systems."
J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. acted as the exclusive agent in the private placement. The share purchase is set to close in stages, with a closing for $10 million in shares having occurred on November 30, 2007 and a closing for the remaining shares scheduled to occur on December 10, 2007. Altairnano agreed to register the resale of the shares prior to the expiration of the two-year lockup period and granted the investor the right to demand a subsequent underwritten re-sale registration.
Al Yousuf LLC was founded in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 1953, and operates in a wide range of industries including automobiles, marine, manufacturing, real estate, information and communication technology, electronic goods and chemicals. Al Yousuf now has a network of subsidiaries and associate companies that in aggregate have more than 3,000 employees.
Al Yousuf has developed relationships with major international companies such as Chevrolet, Yamaha, Daihatsu, Daewoo and Suzuki in the automotive and marine sectors, LG in electronics and ATI/Sapphire, CNet, Concerto-Aspect, Epson NEC, SimpleTech and ViewSonic in the information and communication technology sector.
