In Brief: Lumileds buyout, CK patent, Carmanah, TIR

The European Commission has cleared Royal Philips Electronics NV's acquisition of Agilent's 47-percent stake in their Lumileds Lighting LLC joint venture.

The deal was cleared under the EU's simplified merger procedure, a regulatory process used in cases which the commission considers are unlikely to raise competition concerns.

Another Color Kinetics patent

Color Kinetics was awarded another patent on November 22, 2005. US patent no. 6,967,448 entitled "Methods and apparatus for controlling illumination" was filed on October 25, 2001.

The abstract describes one or more multi-color light sources are controlled based on one or more interruptions of power supplied to the light source(s).

In another example, a pool or spa is illuminated by one or more multi-color light sources that may be employed as individually and independently controllable devices that may be controlled based on one or more interruptions in power.

In another example, the selection of a particular illumination program for such light sources (e.g. by one or more interruptions in power) is indicated to a user via the radiation generated by the light sources.

Carmanah receives $10 million private placement financing

Carmanah Technologies has entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters, led by GMP Securities Ltd. and including Canaccord Capital Corporation and Sprott Securities Inc., for a "bought-deal" private placement financing of common shares for gross proceeds of CAN $10 million.

Net proceeds from this offering will be used to increase Carmanah's working capital; support the Company's expansion of facilities in Victoria, BC, Calgary, AB, Santa Cruz, CA and London, England; and pursue synergistic acquisition opportunities that will add to the Company's leadership position within the solar, solar/LED and LED markets with finished integrated products.

TIR completes financing

TIR Systems has successfully closed CAN $9.0 million of the previously announced private placement of 7% convertible debentures due in January of 2011. This financing structure, which has yielded $23.2 million to date, permits subsequent closings on the same terms.

The debentures are convertible into shares of TIR common stock at a price of $1.30 for the term of the debenture. For every $1,000 of debentures purchased, investors also received warrants providing the right to purchase 200 common shares of the Company for a period of three years at a price of $1.50 per share. The debentures are secured by the assets of the Corporation and bear interest at an initial rate of 7%. The interest rate is subject to reduction depending on the quarterly trading price of the Company's common shares. The interest rate is reduced to 0% when such quarterly trading price exceeds the conversion price by more than 225%. Interest on the debentures is payable quarterly, commencing December 31, 2006.

In conjunction with this financing, Corridor Capital, LLC, which is controlled by Craig Enenstein, a Director of TIR Systems Ltd., has invested approximately $500,000, bringing its total investment in the convertible debenture to $4.8 million.