In recent SEC filing news:

  • Durham-based Icagen raises $1.5 million
  • LendingTree’s CEO gets a nice pay bump
  • A paper company based in Sylva raises $860,000

The details:

Durham’s Icagen raises $1.5 million in private offering

By Harrison Miller, NCBNW

DURHAM – Icagen Inc., a Durham-based drug discovery company, sold $1.5 million in shares in a private offering, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Icagen filed the Form D on April 27. The company stated that the proceeds may be used to pay overhead and other corporate expenses, which could include salaries.

The filing was raised from three outside investors. Icagen is offering debt and option securities, with a minimum investment amount of $500,000. The offer is not intended to last for more than a year.

The filing included sales compensation to Taglich Brothers Inc. for finders fees expenses. Taglich Brothers, a brokerage firm from New York, received $60,000 and a warrant to acquire 25,000 sales of common stock as compensation for their part in the deal.

Richard Cunningham, chief executive officer of Icagen, signed the Form D.

Icagen is a bioscience company that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of orally-administered drugs and provides development services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

The company claimed a Rule 506 (b) exemption for the filing. Companies relying on the Rule 506 exemption do not have to register their offering of securities with the SEC, but they must file what’s known as a Form D electronically with the SEC after they first sell their securities.

  • LendingTree CEO sees 9.5 percent increase in 2016 compensation

By Evanne Timberlake, NCBNW

CHARLOTTE — The chief executive officer and founder of LendingTree Inc. saw a 9.48 percent increase in total compensation to $1,829,241 for fiscal year 2016, according to the proxy filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Douglas Lebda’s total compensation in 2015 was $1,671,779.

Lebda’s base salary has remained the same at $600,000 since 2014. His 2016 total compensation was slightly higher than the year prior because of $207,621 option awards he received in 2016.

Lebda’s total compensation for 2015 and 2016, however, are drastically lower than what he received for fiscal 2014. His total compensation for 2014 was $5.3 million due to $1.09 million stock awards and $2.89 million stock options he received in 2014.

Lebda founded LendingTree in 1996. Before founding the company, Doug worked as an auditor and consultant for PriceWaterhouseCoopers after receiving his bachelor’s degree from Bucknell University.

LendingTree is an online loan marketplace where consumers can shop and compare multiple offers from a national network of lenders to find the best deal on their financing needs. will hold its annual meeting of stockholders on June 14, at the corporate headquarters in Charlotte.

The company’s stock closed at $140.90 on Friday.

  • Sylva paper manufacturing company raises $850,000 in equity

By Evanne Timberlake

SYLVA – A Sylva-based independent paper manufacturing company has raised $850,000 in equity, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Jackson Paper Manufacturing Co. filed a Form D on April 28 stating it has raised $850,000 of the total $1 million offered from five investors. The company did not disclose what it intends to do with the money.

Jackson Paper is North Carolina’s largest producer of recycled paper and has been an industry innovator for over 20 years. The company produces 100 percent recycled corrugating medium and supplies paper to corrugated box makers throughout the U.S., according to its website.

Chief Executive Officer Tim Campbell has led Jackson Paper for over 20 years. In March 1995, Campbell and Jeff Murphy purchased the paper mill from Packaging Corporation of America.

Previously as president of the company, and now as CEO, Campbell has helped Jackson Paper become a successful recycled paper organization. The company produces 25 percent to 30 percent more paper now than was produced in 1995 with the same paper machinery.

Companies relying on a Reg D exemption do not have to register their offering of securities with the SEC, but they must first file what’s known as a Form D electronically with the SEC after they first sell their securities.