December 15, 2000
Move to CDNX could help fledgling fuel cell company
By Brian Salisbury, Ottawa Business Journal
Energy Ventures Inc. vice-president and general manager Terry Kimmel says
his company is ready to get serious.
On Nov. 30, the company filed a preliminary prospectus for a public offering
with the Canadian Venture Exchange. Pending approval in mid-January, the
company will be double listed on the NASD over-the-counter market and the
Canadian Venture Exchange.
Until now, the publicly traded fuel cell company has been trading
exclusively on the bulletin board - a U.S.-based junior tech exchange that
garners little respect among institutional investors.
The move to the CDNX is a move the company is counting on to bring in more
money and more respect.
"It's time to get some serious money in to take us where we want to go,"
says Kimmel. "Our competition is much better financed than we are, so we
need to take off on our own strength."
Kimmel says the retail offering in Canada should do a world of good for EVI.
"The CDNX listing, we're hoping, means we won't have to be looking over our
shoulders, worrying if the president of the company is going to continue
funding the company or not," Kimmel explains.
EVI stock is thinly traded, with company owner and president Wayne Hartford
possessing 89 per cent of the company's 14 million shares. However, with
help from the Canadian IPO, the company hopes to raise between $6-$10
million.
"The IPO will allow us to fast-track development and raise our profile,
which we hope will promote stability and activity in the stock," says
Kimmel.
EVI develops fuel cells for just about anything that runs from a traditional
engine. In contrast to major market players such as Ballard Power, which is
focused on car engines, EVI's target market consists of portable (mobile
phones, laptop computers), stationary (residential electricity) and low-end
motive (golf carts, wheelchairs) applications.
As mentioned above, EVI's stock float sits at 14 million. With the CDNX
offering, that number should jump to between 16.5 million and 19 million
shares. Kimmel says he expects the shares to be offered at $2 each, which
would fetch the company $5-$10 million.
Even with the fuel cell market struggling at the moment, Kimmel is confident
his shareholders will back the offering.
"I don't think we'll see the dilution lead to a drop in the share price," he
says. "I've had conversations with them and nobody is concerned with the
dilution."
Rick Vernon, vice-president and head of investment banking at Toronto-based
Northern Securities Inc., is brokering the CDNX offering for EVI. He
believes the Canadian IPO will open up doors for the company.
"It provides them with a better forum to reach Canadian investors. It will
be RRSP eligible and it will be more attractive to retail investors," says
Vernon.
In fact, RRSP eligibility is a very important factor EVI is counting on to
endear itself to Canadian investors.
As a company traded on an American exchange, EVI stock is not eligible to be
put toward a Canadian investor's RRSPs. But, with a Canadian listing, EVI
shares become more attractive because they will be RRSP eligible.
"In terms of RRSP contributions, nobody would even look at us in Canada
because we didn't qualify," says Kimmel. "One of the ways to get noticed in
Canada is to do a retail offering."
If all goes well, and the Canadian IPO delivers money into EVI's coffers,
the company plans to graduate to the Nasdaq.
Meanwhile, the key to making it big in the U.S. appears to be success at
home.
"To move up the board in the U.S. you have to have market success and that
starts here (in Canada)," says Kimmel. "If we can increase our market cap,
we could graduate from the over-the-counter bulletin board to the Nasdaq
small cap exchange."
Terry Kimmel
Vice President & General Manager
Energy Ventures Inc.
Tel. 613-990-9373 Fax. 613-990-9464
e-mail; Terry.Kimmel@NRC.CA
energyvi.com |
