StockerYale in stock deal with investment firm

StockerYale has agreed to sell 2 million shares at a discount, and offered options on another million in order to raise more than $2 million in capital from a private investment firm, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.

The Salem-based provider of photonic devices will sell the 2 million shares at $1.15 per share to Smithfield Fiduciary LLC, controlled by Highbridge Capital Management LLC, a $9 billion hedge fund owned by JP Morgan Chase, according to an agreement signed last Friday.

In addition, StockerYale agreed to issue a warrant allowing Smithfield to purchase another million shares at an exercise price of $1.72 a share anytime over the next decade.

Also on Monday, StockerYale registered some 2.68 million shares that it used to buy Photonic Products Limited on last Oct. 31.

On Tuesday, morning StockerYale shares opened at $1.36, but quickly jumped to $1.45 a share in the first two hours of trading.

The company has more than 33 million shares outstanding, and previously authorized 4.3 million shares in stock incentive plans (of which 2.86 million have been granted) and another 1.4 million issued pursuant to restricted stock grants.

The company – which had $1.7 million in cash as of Sept. 30, despite repeated borrowing, cost-cutting and the sale and re-leasing of its headquarters — plans to use the proceeds from the latest transaction for “general corporate purposes,” including accelerating operation improvements and informational technology infrastructure.

Also on Monday, the company announced that it appointed Stephen Koski as chief information officer. Koski was the CIO at James Martin & Co., a Virginia-based IT professional technology firm. – BOB SANDERS