Protonex Technology Corp. announced that it has conditionally placed 16,000,000 new common shares to institutional and other investors at 88 pence per share (US$1.725) to raise approximately US$27.6 million (€14.1 million) before expenses. The placing is conditional, inter alia, upon admission of the Placing Shares to trading on AIM. Goldman Sachs and Parker Hannifin Corp. were lead investors in the financing.
Application will be made for the Placing Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM (Alternative Investment Market) and trading is expected to commence on 3 April 2007. The Placing Shares will represent approximately 24.8% of the enlarged issued common share capital of the company, based on the share capital after taking into account the issue of the common shares resulting from the acquisition of Mesoscopic Devices. This second listing follows an initial placing in July 2006 which raised US$13.6 million (€7.4 million) net of expenses.
The proceeds of this secondary financing will be used to fund the acquisition of Mesoscopic Devices, to continue commercialization and marketing of the company’s existing and new products for commercial and military markets, to further its development of advanced fuel cell and fueling technologies, to implement volume production operations with its contract manufacturing partners, to provide funds for general corporate purposes and working capital and for selective acquisitions of, or investments in, adjacent technologies or businesses that complement or expand the company’s existing business.
"With this secondary financing and the acquisition of Mesoscopic Devices, we have taken the business to the next stage in its development and are well- positioned to bring our high-performance fuel cell power systems to market," said Scott Pearson, Chief Executive Officer of Protonex. "We are also delighted to have the support of so many excellent investors as we go forward, including Goldman Sachs and our industrial partner, Parker Hannifin."
