XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. (LSE:XTL; TASE:XTL) announced that it had entered into agreements with institutional investors relating to a private placement for $9.6 million in gross proceeds of ordinary shares, represented by American Depositary Receipts (ADRs).
The lead investors in the transaction are Perceptive Life Sciences Fund, Quogue Capital LLC, SCO Capital Partners and Versant Capital.
The funds give XTL some breathing space, following last quarter's disappointing results and note that it only had enough capital to last until the summer of 2008. The firm may also be able to withstand a warning letter informing it that it did not meet a Nasdaq Global Market listing requirement of a minimum $10 million shareholders' equity.
Ron Bentsur, Chief Executive Officer of XTL, commented, "We are very pleased to have consummated this financing with high-quality investors in the biotechnology sector in the US. Following this offering, we believe that we will have sufficient capital to execute our business plan and, more importantly, to reach what we believe could be a major value-enhancing milestone - the completion of our on-going randomized, placebo-controlled Phase IIb trial of Bicifadine in diabetic neuropathic pain."
Pursuant to the securities purchase agreements, the Company will, following the closing, issue approximately 7.1 million ADRs, representing approximately 71 million ordinary shares. No warrants were issued in the transaction. The private placement was valued at a share price of $1.35, or about $0.50 lower than its close on Friday.
XTL has agreed to register the ordinary shares and list the ADRs for trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Closing of the transaction is conditional upon, among other things, the delisting of the Company's ordinary shares from the Official List of the United Kingdom Listing Authority, scheduled to take place on October 31, 2007.
XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. is engaged in the development of therapeutics for the treatment of neuropathic pain and hepatitis C. XTL is developing Bicifadine, a serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, for the treatment of diabetic neuropathic pain. XTL is also developing several novel pre-clinical hepatitis C small molecule inhibitors.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on October 28, 2007
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