(By Balaseshan) Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ:PEIX), a marketer and producer of low carbon renewable fuels, said it has priced an underwritten public offering of 28.0 million units at $0.43 per unit, a 18.9% discount to Wednesday's stock closing price.
Each unit consists of one share of common stock; one warrant to purchase one share of common stock (Series 1 Warrant); and one warrant to purchase 1/2 of a share of common stock (Series 2 Warrant).
The shares of common stock and warrants are immediately separable and will be issued separately. The warrants are exercisable immediately upon issuance. The Series 1 Warrants are to have a 5-year term and an exercise price of $0.63 per share. The Series 2 Warrants are to have an 18-month term and an exercise price of $0.53 per share.
The warrants will be certificated, and will be delivered to the investors by physical delivery following the closing. There is no established public trading market for the warrants and a market is not expected to develop.
In addition, Pacific Ethanol has granted the underwriter a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 4.2 million units to cover over-allotments, if any.
The net offering proceeds to Pacific Ethanol from this offering are expected to be about $10.8 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other estimated offering expenses.
The offering is expected to close on or about July 3, 2012, subject to customary closing conditions.
Lazard Capital Markets LLC is acting as sole book-running manager for the offering.
PEIX is trading 35.82% lower at $0.340 on Thursday. The stock has been trading between $0.25 and $1.85 for the past 52 weeks.