Pacific Biometrics enters into a Loan and Security Agreement to raise $4 million
October 19, 2015
"We believe this debt financing is in the best interest of our stockholders when compared with equity-based financing, for a number of reasons," continued Helm. "The Loan results in no dilution of our current stockholders, we issued no warrants to Mr. Giles, loan fees were modest, and there is no prepayment penalty. In addition, we were able to repurchase approximately 13% of our outstanding common stock at $0.70 per share, thereby improving the percentage ownership position of our remaining stockholders by approximately 14%. The reduction in number of shares outstanding also has the potential to increase the Company's future earnings per share."
"As noted previously in our news releases, we believe PBI is well-positioned to expand its role in the biomarker services industry, which represents a rapidly growing market that offers the potential for higher profit margins and the development of proprietary assays that can benefit future earnings and enhance stockholder value. We have developed business strategies to achieve these objectives, and the funds provided by this Loan will allow us to more aggressively execute these strategies in Fiscal 2010 and future years."
The Company also announced that Mario Ehlers, M.D., Ph.D., has been appointed to PBI's Board of Directors to fill the vacancy created by Mr. Giles' resignation. Dr. Ehlers previously served as the Company's Chief Medical Officer (September 2002 to August 2008). Dr. Ehlers is currently Deputy Director of the Clinical Trials Group at the Immune Tolerance Network (ITN), a federally funded research organization affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco. ITN's drug development projects rely heavily on the discovery and implementation of novel biomarkers.
"Dr. Mario Ehlers played a key role in the development of our biomarker business initiatives, and we are very pleased that he has agreed to serve on the Board of Directors. We believe his counsel will prove invaluable as we build upon the earnings turnaround currently underway and target new market opportunities by expanding the capabilities of our specialty laboratory infrastructure," concluded Helm.
Source: pacbio