"I find it despicable that they would go out and make a placement at a 10 per cent discount to all these guys without offering it around to other shareholders."
Living Cell chief executive Ken Taylor said other investors who took part in the placement included Britomart developer Peter Cooper and American billionaire and philanthropist Julian Robertson, as well as Peter Francis, who was one of the directors of Chase Corporation, the property development firm that collapsed spectacularly in 1989.
"ASX-listed companies regularly raise funds in this manner," he said.
Future funds
Taylor said the placement participants had the capacity to invest additional money required to commercialise Living Cell's NTCELL regenerative cell therapy for Parkinson's and other diseases.
But Gaynor said Milford also had the capacity to provide future funding.
Taylor pointed out that existing shareholders could buy up to A$15,000 of new Living Cell shares - also at a 10 per cent discount - through a share purchase plan that opens next week.
That offer is unlikely to get a major shareholder like Milford excited.
Living Cell shares closed down 8.57 per cent at A6.4c last night.
Ebola rally
Stock markets can be callous.
As the Ebola outbreak causes horrendous suffering in West Africa, where around 3800 people have succumbed to the virus, pharmaceutical firms developing treatments for the haemorrhagic fever have made big gains in their share prices because of regulatory developments and cases of the disease outside the African continent.
Take Nasdaq-listed Chimerix, for example.
Its stock rose 11 per cent to a new closing high of US$33.23 on Monday after a Texas hospital revealed that Thomas Eric Duncan - who was diagnosed with Ebola on September 30 after returning to the United States from Liberia - was receiving an experimental treatment developed by the North Carolina company.
Duncan died yesterday.
The drug, called Brincidofovir, has been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration for emergency use, and has shown some activity against the disease in test tube experiments.
But it is yet to be tested on laboratory animals, let alone humans.
Chimerix shares, which have gained more than 130 per cent since May, fell almost 1 per cent to close at US$33.91 yesterday after the news of Duncan's death.
Torpedo for R&R?
Torpedo7, the popular online sportsgear seller that is majority owned by The Warehouse Group, announced in an email to customers this week that it would be "joining forces" with bricks-and-mortar retailer R&R Sport.
Hamilton-based Torpedo7 acquired R&R last year.
The email did not give away too many clues about what the partnership will mean, except to say customers would get the chance to view possible purchases from the website in a physical retail space.
But it would be a logical move to do away with the R&R brand and give Torpedo7 a bricks-and-mortar, as well as web-based, presence.
A Warehouse spokeswoman says more details on the partnership will be revealed at a media event this month.
Boost for Synlait
Gaining regulatory approval to export retail-ready infant formula to China has helped sustain a rally in Synlait Milk's share price.
The Canterbury dairy processor's stock price has risen more than 10 per cent since its announcement on September 30 that it had received the clearance from China's Certification and Accreditation Administration.
Its share price has increased 18 per cent since the middle of last month, rising from $3.15 to close up 3c at $3.73 last night.
Synlait faced a four-month delay in gaining Chinese approval because it first had to complete construction of a new dry blending and consumer packaging plant at its Dunsandel manufacturing plant, 40km south of Christchurch, before it could gain the regulatory tick.
Several other New Zealand infant formula manufacturers, including Fonterra, received approval at the beginning of May when strict new Chinese import requirements came into force.
Orion Health prospectus
Orion Health is pushing hard to complete its much-awaited initial public offer before the onset of the silly season.
The Auckland-based software developer is yet to officially announce the IPO, but indicative dates provided to market participants suggest a prospectus could be registered by the end of this month.
Orion founder Ian McCrae. Photo / Kenny Rodger
A bookbuild - when fund managers indicate how many shares they want to purchase and at what price - may take place during the first week of November, with the listing pencilled in for November 26, according to a source who received the dates.
Orion, whose technology includes software that allows doctors to store and look up patient records online, will also hold an extraordinary meeting of shareholders next Friday to approve the issue of new shares in the IPO, directors' remuneration and a new company constitution.
An Orion spokesman declined to comment on the shareholders' meeting or the indicative dates.
It has been reported the offer could raise more than $100 million and potential valuations of $400 million to $800 million are being bandied about.for the company, which posted revenue of $153 million in its last financial year and has over 1000 staff.
Orion was founded in 1993 by Ian McCrae, who remains the majority shareholder and chief executive.
