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Technology Stocks : FUEL CELLS 1999's Hottest Sector -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jongmans who wrote (149)	12/18/2000 10:15:17 PM
From: vestor	Respond to of 171

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