Teekay Offshore Partners' Stock Paces NYSE Gainers After Private Placement

Shares of Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. rocketed 20% in active midday trade, making them the second-biggest gainer on the NYSE, after the marine transportation and oil production company announced a private placement of $200 million worth of equity securities. Volume reached 2.4 million shares within two hours of trade, or close to triple the full-day average. As part of the private placement, Teekay said it issued $100 million worth of perpetual preferred units and $100 million worth of common stock units to a group of investors. The company plans to use the proceeds from the issuances, which are expected to close on or before the end of June, for general purposes such as funding its newbuilding installments and capital conversion projects. The stock was still down 16% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 1%.