Quarterly report pursuant to sections 13 or 15(d)

Convertible Promissory Notes And Warrants

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Convertible Promissory Notes And Warrants
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2011
Convertible Promissory Notes And Warrants [Abstract]  
Convertible Promissory Notes And Warrants
6. Convertible Promissory Notes and Warrants:

On December 21, 2009, the Company issued $2,400,000 in principal of convertible promissory notes (the "Exchange Notes") and warrants to purchase an aggregate of 935,040 shares of the Company's common stock (the "Exchange Warrants") in exchange for 480 shares of outstanding Series A Preferred Stock (the "Exchange"). The Preferred Shareholders holding the 480 shares of Preferred Stock, which had a stated value of $2,400,000, were entities affiliated with Mariner Private Equity, LLC, of which Patrick Doherty, a former director of the Company, is president, and Michael Brown, one of the Company's directors. The Exchange Notes bear interest at 1% per annum, mature three years from the date of issuance and are convertible into 450,281 shares of common stock at a fixed conversion price of $5.33. The Exchange Warrants have an exercise price of $5.08 and expire three years from issuance. There are no price-based anti-dilution provisions in the Exchange Notes or Exchange Warrants.

The fair value of the Exchange Notes at issuance was estimated based upon the present value of their future cash flows, using credit risk adjusted rates, as enhanced by the fair value of the embedded conversion feature ("ECF"). Since the Company does not have an established credit rating, the credit risk adjusted yield of 10.3% was determined by reference to comparable instruments in public markets. The fair value of the ECF was determined using the Monte Carlo Simulation ("MCS"). MCS is an option-based model that embodies assumptions that would likely be considered by market participants who trade the financial instrument. In addition to more traditional assumptions, such as trading market values, trading volatilities and risk-free rates, MCS assumptions include credit risk, interest risk and redemption considerations. The fair value of the Exchange Warrants was determined using the Black-Scholes-Merton valuation technique over the term to contractual expiration. Significant assumptions included in these valuation techniques were as follows:

 

     Assumption

Credit-risk adjusted rates (based upon comparables):

  

Exchange of Notes

   10.3%

ECF Range of Rates

   8.5% - 10.3%

Volatility (based upon historical trading volumes and prices):

  

ECF Range of Periods

   53.2% - 68.9%

Exchange Warrants

   65.6%

In evaluating the accounting for the Exchange, the Company also considered current classification and measurement standards associated with the ECF and the Exchange Warrants. The ECF is an equity-linked feature that is not clearly and closely related to the risks of the host debt instrument. However, current accounting standards afforded an exemption to bifurcation of the ECF because it is both indexed to the Company's own stock and otherwise met the definition of Conventional Convertible based upon the fixed conversion price. The Exchange Warrants are both indexed to the Company's own stock and met all other conditions necessary for their classification in stockholders' equity. Finally, the Company's consideration of whether a beneficial conversion feature ("BCF") was present in the hybrid debt agreement indicated that the effective conversion price was higher than the trading market price on the date of issuance. Accordingly, the Exchange Notes did not embody a BCF.

The final value allocated to the Exchange Notes on the issuance date of $2,150,448 is less than the face value of $2,472,000. This original issue discount of $321,552 is amortized to interest expense using the effective interest method. For the nine months ended September 30, 2011, the Company recorded amortization charges of $79,758.