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Paradigm Medical Industries, Inc. (OTCBB: PMED) Up 75.00% on Wednesday
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December 19, 2007 - Paradigm Medical Industries Receives Major LD400 Perimeter Order from Large Optical Chain in United Kingdom
Paradigm Medical Industries, Inc. (OTCBB: PMED.OB/PMEDW.OB), the leader in glaucoma diagnostic and management devices, today disclosed it has received an order for 30 Dicon LD400 Visual Fields Analyzers (Perimeters) from one of the largest optical chains in the United Kingdom. The retail value of this order exceeds $250,000. Delivery is scheduled by the end of this year.
The LD400 AutoPerimeter is used to measure patient visual fields to determine the severity of glaucoma and to aid in managing the disease.
"This is a significant acceptance of the fact that our LD400 with its patented Kinetic Fixation feature is the most technically advanced Perimeter available today," said Paradigm Medical's Chief Executive Officer, Raymond Cannefax. "Though the LD400 is in the midst of a major technology upgrade, it is obvious that Paradigm Medical's existing VFA technology is superior."
The Company noted that it already has received written commitments for an additional 40-50 LD400 Perimeters from the same UK optical chain, which will also be delivered during the first quarter of 2008. The total retail value of all shipments would exceed $600,000.
Deep Down, Inc. (OTCBB: DPDW) Up 34.21% on Wednesday
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December 19, 2007 - Deep Down Announces Acquisition of Mako Technologies
Deep Down, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: DPDW) today announced that it has signed a definitive purchase agreement to purchase Mako Technologies, Inc. ("Mako"). Headquartered in Morgan City, Louisiana, Mako serves the growing offshore petroleum and marine industries with technical support services, and products vital to offshore petroleum production, through rentals of its remotely operated vehicles (ROV), topside and subsea equipment, and diving support systems used in diving operations, maintenance and repair operations, offshore construction, and environmental/marine surveys.
"The total cost of acquiring Mako is a maximum of $5.0 million in cash and 11,269,841 shares of common stock of Deep Down based on Mako management's expectation of $2,400,000 in earnings before depreciation, interest, amortization, taxes and other non-cash charges ("EBITDA"), after also adjusting for certain non-recurring expenses, for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2007. As part of this acquisition, Deep Down will also pay off approximately $800,000 in Mako bank debt. The first installment of $2,916,667 in cash and 6,574,074 shares of common stock of Deep Down is expected to be paid at closing within the next few days, and the balance of up to $2,083,333 in cash and 4,695,767 shares of common stock of Deep Down will be paid upon completion of an audit to verify adjusted EBITDA expectations for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2007," commented Robert E. Chamberlain, Jr., Deep Down's Chairman.
"We are very pleased to have signed the acquisition agreement with Mako, and believe this non-dilutive transaction is extremely beneficial for Deep Down and our shareholders as we continue to add products and services to our portfolio of capabilities," commented Ron E. Smith, Deep Down's President and CEO. "We believe we can significantly enhance Mako's current annual revenue base of approximately $6.8 million by expanding the equipment rental pool and ROV fleet."
"An expansion of the ROV fleet can yield benefits beyond increased rental income, including increased service revenue from two and three man ROV operating crews and the opportunity to sell additional launch and retrieval systems ("LARS"). Prospect Capital Corporation is providing $6,000,000 in debt to fund the cash requirements and expenses associated with this transaction. Terms are substantially the same as those in the initial borrowing that was concluded in August 2007," said Eugene L. Butler, Deep Down's CFO.
"With Deep Down's relationships and access to capital, we foresee the ability to expand our ROV fleet and take advantage of our customers' growing need for both planned and "emergency" offshore rental equipment in support of their growing level of oil and gas exploration occurring in the Gulf of Mexico. We also plan to expand our operations internationally," commented Jacob Marcell, Mako Technologies' chief executive officer.
Odyne Corporation (OTCBB: ODYC) Up 33.33% on Wednesday
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December 19, 2007 - Odyne Corp. Receives Purchase Order for Twenty Five Plug-in Hybrid Aerial Lift Truck Systems
Odyne Corporation (OTCBB:ODYC), a leading developer of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle technologies, today announced it had received a purchase order for 25 plug-in hybrid electric vehicle systems from Dueco, Inc., one of the nation's largest utility equipment manufacturers.
The systems will be installed by Dueco, Inc., to power the first plug-in hybrid electric aerial lift trucks, "bucket trucks," used by utility companies to maintain electric, telephone and cable lines.
Dueco, Inc. has been accepting orders for these vehicles since the launch of this new technology at the ICUEE trade show in October.
Odyne and Dueco have developed the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) propulsion system that uses low cost, domestically produced energy from the nation's electric grid to off-set fuel consumption and reduce emissions. The new aerial trucks can recharge at off-peak hours using low cost electricity from the nation's electric grid. The system can also maintain charge or be recharged at any point with the conventional diesel engine while driving or stationary.
The system will provide the fuel efficiency and emission enhancements, typical of a hybrid vehicle, while the truck is traveling to and from the work site. While at the work site, the Odyne Stored Energy System will power all of the necessary job-site related equipment directly, including the aerial lift device, air conditioning and heating, with the engine off.
Odyne and Dueco estimate that the vehicles will reduce fuel consumption by approximately 6-10 gallons per day, eliminate on-site engine emissions, as well as eliminate on-site noise.
"Since the introduction of the Dueco-Odyne hybrid vehicle, the response has been very positive," says Odyne CEO Alan Tannenbaum. "Utility companies particularly value the opportunity to utilize their own low-cost, off-peak grid power to charge the vehicles overnight, while creating a safer and healthier environment for their employees and the community."
"We estimate that nationwide, there are more than 30,000 aerial lift trucks in operation," explains Joe Dalum, Vice President of Dueco, Inc.
"We believe this is an excellent application for our advanced PHEV technology and that the utility industry and municipalities are eager to upgrade their fleets in order to respond to higher fuel costs and transition to more environmentally friendly vehicles."
"We believe that the utility industry and municipalities are particularly enthusiastic about using the large on-board battery system to store electrical power that is generated from renewable energy sources and other sources with very low greenhouse gas emissions during the night," said Mr. Dalum. "The clean energy is then used during the day, instead of running the engine - effectively displacing the use of petroleum with cleaner electricity."
Drinks Americas Holdings, Ltd. (OTCBB: DKAM) Up 30.88% on Wednesday
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December 19, 2007 - Drinks Americas Completes $3 Million Private Placement
Drinks Americas Holdings, Ltd. (OTCBB: DKAM) (the "Company"), a leading developer and marketer of premium alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage brands associated with icons, announced today that it has completed an institutional private placement of $3 million in non-voting, perpetual, convertible preferred stock through Midtown Partners & Co., LLC. All details of the equity financing are contained in today's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Form 8K, available on http://www.sec.gov/.
J. Patrick Kenny, President and CEO of the Company, stated, "This equity investment, by three of our existing institutional investors, is a strong vote of confidence in our business plan, our products, and our management team. Unlike many other private placements, this preferred stock issuance has no 'put' rights, no automatic 'ratchets,' no dividends, no warrants, is convertible well above the current market price, carries an effective lock up of six months due to legal restrictions, and carries no board seats or voting rights. The resultant increase to our cash position and our net worth will allow us to accelerate our marketing efforts for our new products and to increase our ability to obtain favorable commercial financing in the future."
Mr. Kenny added, "We continue to achieve positive momentum through our previously announced joint venture with Interscope Geffen A&M Records, and with our line of Trump Super Premium Vodkas. This new capital will fuel our marketing programs in the U.S., Europe, and Russia, particularly given the unexpected acceleration of our international sales through our alliance with Recolte in Russia."
The preferred stock is convertible at $0.50 per share, and, under certain circumstances, the Company can force a conversion if the Company's common stock trades above $1.50 for ten consecutive trading days.
The transaction involved the same investors that were part of the $8 million equity raise in January of this year, and affected certain of the rights afforded the investors at that time. Accordingly, the investors in the January financing exchanged their 4,444,444 shares of the Company's common stock for 8,000 shares of the Preferred Stock, which is convertible into an aggregate of 16 million shares of common stock. Importantly, arising out of this new financing, the investors' prior right to warrants for 18,888,890 shares was waived in exchange for the issuance of 5 million shares of common stock. This waiver applies to future financings as well.
Minera Andes Inc. ( OTCBB: MNEAF) Up 11.76% on Wednesday
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December 19, 2007 - Minera Andes announces proposed financing
Minera Andes Inc. (TSX: MAI and US OTC: MNEAF) has set terms for a brokered private placement of units for gross proceeds of up to Cdn$35.0 million, expected to close on December 21, 2007.
Each unit, priced at Cdn$1.55, will consist of one common share and one-half of one common share purchase warrant. One whole common share purchase warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one additional common share at an exercise price of Cdn$2.00 per share for a period of 24 months from the closing date. The proposed private placement is subject to receiving all necessary regulatory approvals and issued securities will be subject to a four-month hold period. Scotia Capital Inc. ("Scotia") will be acting as agent on the private placement in Canada while Shoreline Pacific LLC and Casimir Capital L.P. will act in the U.S. (together the "Agents").
The Agents will receive a 5% commission. The Agents will also receive Agent's compensation options equal to 5% of the aggregate number of units sold pursuant to the offering. Each Agent's compensation option upon exercise will entitle the holder to acquire one unit at an exercise price of Cdn$1.70 per unit for a period of 24 months from the date of issue. A total of 22,580,645 common shares may be issued pursuant to the private placement, and up to 11,290,322 common shares will be reserved for issuance on exercise of the warrants and 1,129,032 units for issuance on the exercise of the agent's compensation options.
Minera Andes intends to use the proceeds from the offering to fund its share of the costs at the San Jos� project in southern Argentina, as well as for exploration drilling and completing a scoping study at Los Azules and for general corporate purposes.
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