Benzinga's Microcap Movers for Tuesday July 10, 2012

Below are highlights from Benzinga's daily coverage of small cap and microcap securities making big moves: First Corporation Shares of First Corporation (FSTC), the UK-based development-stage company, rose 74.56% Tuesday on 201 times average volume. First Corp issues this press release: First Corporation and Gecko Landmarks can enhance location services for 5 billion mobile phone users in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Having completed its $1 million investment for 10% of Gecko Landmarks, First Corporation and Gecko will move ahead accelerating Gecko product development and global commercialization in emerging markets offering Gecko's SMS Application to 5 billion feature phones. First Corporation will spearhead Gecko's SMS Application for mobile phones as part of a broad marketing strategy re-enforcing Gecko's position as world leader in the provision of well known local landmarks. The SMS Application enhances SMS messages adding location information based on well-known geographic related interest points. Gecko Landmarks is currently working with several technology companies and social networks enhancing location services where map coverage is poor, or there is no local culture of map reading. First Corporation closed at $0.70 on Tuesday. MDU Communications Shares of MDU Communications (MDTV), the Totowa, NJ provider of DirecTV and Internet to multi-family buildings, rose 72.47% Tuesday on 49 times average volume. Multiband Corporation MBND and MDU Communications announced Tuesday the signing of a definitive agreement pursuant to which MDU Communications will merge into Multiband and will be combined with Multiband's MDU business segment. MDU Communications currently owns, operates and services over 75,000 subscribers in 790 MDU properties encompassing 170,000 residences. The transaction will add both scale and leverage to Multiband's existing MDU business segment, which includes approximately 116,000 owned and managed subscribers, and an additional 81,000 subscribers supported by its support center. Under the terms of the definitive agreement, which has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies, holders of MDU Communications common stock will receive a currently calculated 0.759 shares of Multiband common stock for each share of MDU Communications common stock in a tax-free exchange. Multiband will issue 4.3 million shares of its common stock for all issued and outstanding shares of MDU Communications common stock. Based upon a price of $3.00 per share of Multiband common stock, the transaction, including the assumption by Multiband of MDU Communications' outstanding credit facility of $29.7 million, is valued at approximately $42.6 million. The definitive agreement provides for adjustment of the number of Multiband shares if the trading price of Multiband common stock is greater or less than 20% (based on the $3.00) at the time of the merger closing date. In the alternative, Multiband has the option to pay an equivalent $12.9 million in cash for the issued and outstanding shares of MDU Communications common stock. The definitive agreement also provides for contingent consideration to MDU Communications stockholders of record if MDU Communications enters into a definitive agreement with a third party prior to the merger closing date, or within three months after, for the sale of a certain number of subscribers, which would reduce the balance outstanding under their credit facility. MDU Communications closed at $1.51 on Tuesday. Origin Agritech Shares of Origin Agritech SEED, the China-based agricultural biotechnology company, rose 17.04% Tuesday on almost 6 times average volume. Origin Agritech on Tuesday provided an update on its Genetically Modified corn seed pipeline and hybrid corn seed development program. Genetically modified seed products in China must initially undergo a five-stage approval process. Origin's genetically modified phytase corn was the first GM corn seed which passed all five phases of the GM approval process and received notification of Bio-Safety Certificate. Origin has further incorporated phytase traits into two of its best-selling commercial corn hybrids. Commercialization of these two corn hybrids is pending approval from the Chinese government. Two additional corn hybrids with GM phytase traits are undergoing variety production test. Phytase is an essential element for the growth and development of all animals by increasing phosphorous absorption. Phytase transgenic corn inputs the phytase trait directly into corn, thus reducing costs for animal feed producers by eliminating the need to mix phytase and corn ingredients together. Origin's GM phytase-producing corn is expected to reduce the need for inorganic phosphate supplements as animals will directly absorb more phosphate from their feed, reducing animal feed's high cost. In addition to GM phytase corn, the Company has been conducting research on other GM traits including herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, nitrogen efficiency, and drought stress tolerance traits in crop seeds. Origin Agritech closed at $1.71 on Tuesday. The information in this article is taken from public sources, press releases, and websites that cannot always be verified. Please note that investing in microcap stocks is highly speculative. The companies mentioned here are for information purposes only. Benzinga makes no claim as to the suitability of these stocks as an investment. Neither Benzinga nor its staff recommend that you buy, sell, or hold any security. We do not offer investment advice, personalized or otherwise. 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