Here is a link to each summary with much more detail from the wire:

Ares Secondary (ARCC) hits shares
Spirit Airlines (SAVE) insiders unloading stock
A123 (AONE) has a direct share sale
Sequenom (SQNM) needs capital
Boardwalk Pipeline (BWP) Raising Capital
Hercules (HTGC) raising new investment capital
Martin Midstream Partners (MMLP) buying analyst coverage
ZIOPHARM (ZIOP) raising cash
Francesca’s (FRAN) shares held up
Nordic American Tankers (NAT) sells shares for more boat buying

What is funny is that this list is ten companies and it still leaves a few fresh filings out.

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JON C. OGG

The projected proceeds of the sale are put at about $825.1 million, which comes to roughly $36.24 per unit.  The most recent price was $39.80 and the 52-week range is $30.78 to $47.34.  Enterprise noted that the proceeds will be used for general partnership purposes, including funding growth capital projects and that the sale should close in January 2012.

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. is already massive with a $39 billion market capitalization, while Energy Transfer Equity has a market value of about $8.9 billion.  Enterprise units trade at $45.52 and the consensus analyst price target objective from Thomson Reuters is $49.11.  Energy Transfer Equity trades at $39.80 and the consensus price target objective.

This matters for “dividend investors” even though these MLP payouts are referred to as distributions of both income and a return of capital component.  We just recently gave an MLP sector outlook for 2012 for the 24/7 Wall St. 2012 Model Dividend Portfolio.

JPMorgan Alerian MLP Index ETN (NYSE: AMJ) and ALPS Alerian MLP ETF (NYSE: AMLP) both include these and many other key ETFs, and Kayne Anderson MLP Investment Company (NYSE: KYN) lists both of these MLPs in the top ten holdings with Enterprise representing 9.1% and Energy Transfer representing 4.2%.

What Enterprise did not say is that the proceeds are likely to allow the MLP to keep boosting payouts ahead.  It is quarter after quarter that these MLPs keep hiking their quarterly payouts, and that is true for Enterprise as well.

JON C. OGG

For all practical purposes, ARIAD is in the pre-revenue stage of operations.  As far as the full details of the funding, the capital raise will allow ARIAD to “continue treatment and follow-up of patients in the pivotal PACE trial of its investigational pan BCR-ABL inhibitor, ponatinib, in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) or Philadelphia-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ALL) and, subject to further patient follow-up and data analysis in this trial, to file for marketing approval of ponatinib in the United States and Europe in the middle of 2012.”

An additional note on the funding is tha the money will allow ARIAD to continue its efforts for the commercialization of ponatinib in the United States and Europe.  The new funds should also allow for additional clinical trials of ponatinib, including a Phase 3 clinical trial in newly diagnosed CML patients, clinical trials of ponatinib in Japan, completion of the Phase I/II trial of its investigational dual inhibitor of anaplastic lymphoma kinase and epidermal growth factor receptor called AP26113.  Another potentiality is the funding (dependent upon the outcome of the trials) of a pivotal trial of AP26113 in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

J.P. Morgan Securities, Cowen & Co., and Jefferies are the joint book-running managers; co-managers are listed as BMO Capital Markets, Leerink Swann, Oppenheimer & Co., and also Rodman & Renshaw.  These underwriters will be granted a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 3.225 million shares as an overallotment option. 

ARIAD shares are actually up 3.45% at $10.78 and the 52-week trading range is $4.45 to $13.50.  Usually shares fall on secondary offerings hurt stocks, but this one had already been discounted.  This $10.42 price is down from as high as $11.75 just as recently as last week.  Before the effects of the offering, ARIAD’s market capitalization is $1.4 billion.

If ARIAD shares remain higher like this, it is almost certain that the overallotment will be exercised by the underwriters.  If so, then the gross proceeds before underwriting fees will be more than $257 million in new capital raised.  As of September 30, 2011, the company had a mere $86.3 million in cash on the books and its total liabilities were $73.9 million.

JON C. OGG

The share sale was barely behind the company when Transocean announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Transocean Inc., would offer new senior notes under a shelf registration the company filed in September 2010. Here’s what the company has to say about the new notes:

Transocean Inc. intends to use a portion of the net proceeds from the offering to fund (after the application of the proceeds of Transocean Ltd.’s previously announced equity offering) the expected repurchase of its 1.50% Series B Convertible Senior Notes due December 2037 that holders of the Series B Convertible Senior Notes may require it to repurchase in December 2011. In addition, Transocean Inc. intends to use a portion of the net proceeds from the offering to refinance all commercial paper notes outstanding under its commercial paper program. Transocean Inc. plans to use the remainder, if any, of such net proceeds for general corporate purposes in its operations, including but not limited to capital expenditures, acquisitions or repayment or refinancing of debt. Pending application of the net proceeds from the sale of the senior notes, Transocean Inc. intends to invest such proceeds in cash or cash equivalents.

The new senior notes will be offered in three tranches: a 5-year, a 10-year, and a 30-year issue. The company has not specified either the price of the notes or the total amount of the offering.

According the company’s SEC filing today, the company’s expects to repurchase $659 million of its outstanding 1.50% Series B Convertible Senior Notes with proceeds from the new notes offering. The total outstanding on the Notes is about $1.7 billion. Note holders may require the company to repurchase the convertible notes by the end of December, and Transocean is building a war chest to do that.

Transocean also claims to have $79 million outstanding in its commercial paper program. The entire amount would be covered in this new note offering. Transocean noted that its total debt, as of September 30, 2011, equalled $11.1 billion, of which about $2 billion is due within one year. The remaining $9.1 billion is long-term debt. That amount does not include $1.8 billion in debt related to the company’s completion of its acquisition of Aker Drilling ASA in October.

Moody’s put Transocean on ratings review for a possible downgrade in mid-November, and the company faces the first of what could be many courtroom appearances in connection with its role in the Macondo well explosion last year in the Gulf of Mexico. S&P and Fitch Ratings have already lowered Transocean’s debt rating to a single notch above junk.

So why is the share price rising today? The answer has to be that today’s successful share offering has quieted concerns about the company’s ability to raise cash and is likely to forestall any further credit rating downgrades.  A strong stock market is also helping, of course.  Transocean’s shares are up nearly 4%, at $43.29, in a 52-week range of $41.28-$85.98.

Paul Ausick

No underwriters were listed in the shelf offering and the company’s market cap is $411 million before the effects of this offering.

USE OF PROCEEDS: We will retain broad discretion over the use of the net proceeds from the sale of the securities offered hereby. Unless otherwise indicated in any prospectus supplement, we intend to use the net proceeds from the sale of the securities under this prospectus for general corporate purposes, which may include research and development, capital expenditures, working capital, and general administrative expenses. We may also use a portion of the net proceeds to acquire or invest in businesses, products and technologies that are complementary to our own, although we have no current plans, commitments or agreements with respect to any acquisitions as of the date of this prospectus….

As of September 30, 2011, Sequenom had more than $101 million spread out among is cash, cash equivalents, and short-term and long-term investments.  Long-term debt is only $11.67 million and total liabilities were only $42.1 million.

Sequenom shares are down over 3% at $4.01 after closing at $4.14 yesterday.  Be advised that the 52-week range is $3.95 to $8.71, so this is very close to a potential capital raise when shares are back at their weakest level in some time.

FULL SEC FILING

JON C. OGG

The initial conversion rate is 11.6553 shares of Netflix common stock per $1,000 principal amount of the notes.  This comes to an initial conversion price of approximately $85.80 per share.

Netflix closed down 4.6% at $74.47 today and the stock is trading down 5.6% at 69.80 in the after-hours session.  Keep in mind that the prior 52-week range is $73.26 to $304.79, so this will mark a new 52-week low if the shares remain where they are.

If this company is needing to raise $200 million at a time after having had a $15 billion market value jus a few months ago, who cares if it is just to finance content deals.  In the world of content, Netflix showed that the tail cannot wag the dog for very long.

JON C. OGG

The size of the stock offering was increased from 37,500,000 shares to 42,000,000 shares of common stock at a public offering price of $7.75 per share. Credit Suisse, KeyBanc Capital Market, RBC Capital Markets, and Wells Fargo Securities were the joint book-running managers and these underwriters have an overallotment option to purchase up to 6,300,000 additional shares.

Kodiak also announced that it “upsized” a private placement offering of $650 million of senior notes due in 2019 from the previously announced $550 million. The coupon and yield priced at 8.125% at PAR.

Kodiak is using the proceeds to finance its previously announced acquisition of interests in approximately 50,000 net acres of oil and gas properties and related assets in the Williston Basin, North Dakota.  The proceeds will also help to repay its debt under a first lien credit agreement, to repay second lien debt, for cap-ex in the Bakken shale, and for general corporate purposes.

Kodiak has a market cap of about $1.66 billion and its $7.90 share price compares to a 52-week range of $2.43 to $8.10.

JON C. OGG

Underwriters in the group are Morgan Stanley, BofA/Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan, Allen & Company, and UBS.  The syndicate will be given an overallotment option of 1.2 million shares.

Bain Capital Venture Integral Investors is effectively selling its entire stake, Greylock Ventures is selling 10% of its stake, Bessemer Ventures is selling 10% of its stake, and several officers and directors are selling 10% of their stake.  SAP Ventures of SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) is selling one-third of its stake as well.

All you have to do is ask a simple question… Why wouldn’t these insiders and backers sell if they are freed up to do so with such huge gains?  LinkedIn shares are down almost 5% at $74.77 in pre-market indications but the volume is still extremely light.  The post-IPO range is $60.14 to $122.70.

JON C. OGG

The shelf registration is for up to $150 million in any combination of the following securities sales: debt, common stock, preferred stock, warrants, depositary shares, stock purchase contracts, and stock purchase units.

More importantly, Merge also noted that holders may offer and sell up to 10,500,000 shares of common stock from time to time under the prospectus, Merge will receive no proceeds by the selling holders.

The full S-3 filing is here.  Merge closed at $6.66 on Friday against a 52-week range of $3.11 to $7.23, and its market cap is only $597 million.

JON C. OGG

It was just on Tuesday that Human Genome Sciences was downgraded to Underperform by Zacks, but it was also given the dubious honor of being named The Bear of the Day.  

The company earmarked the funds for general corporate purposes, but it included that it may repurchase its outstanding 2.25% Convertible Subordinated Notes due 2012 before their scheduled maturity date on August 15, 2012. Also noted was capped call transactions to reduce the potential dilution and/or to offset any potential cash payments in excess of the principal amount of the converted notes.

This offering is being underwritten by Citigroup.  Our take is that this company is simply raising refinancing capital here rather than taking on any massive new undertaking on top of a poor lupus drug reception so far.  The size compares to a market capitalization rate of $1.95 billion.

There is still over two hours until the market opens and shares are indicated down another 2.5% after closing at $10.25 yesterday.  The 52-week range is $9.68 to $30.15.

JON C. OGG