Evidence is still anecdotal, but bridge financing appears to be growing as a tool for investors in reverse mergers – particularly for China-based deals – dealmakers say. Full Story

Canada, particularly its western half, where a large proportion of microcaps originate, has been seen largely as a breeding ground for fraudulent microcap financing.

This is not without good reason, some dealmakers say. Mining and its financing are big business up north, and the industry's reputation is blemished, to say the least. Full Story

The vast region south of the U.S. border is increasingly being seen as fertile hunting ground for rapidly growing companies eager for U.S. cash and several reverse merger firms are setting up shop in the region.

Colorado-based Keating Investments, well known in the alternative offering market, recently opened an office in Bogota, Colombia. Another prolific reverse merger firm, Texas-based Halter Financial Group, has had a representative located in Miami overseeing its Latin American operations for about a year. Full Story

• PIPE Boutique Privatizes Via Spin-Off in Reverse Merger
• Rule 144 Could Effect Well-Known Mergers
• Life Science VC Firm Forms Virgin Shell
• SEC Closes Investigation into Shell Scheme
• Drug Company Turns to PIPEs for Cash
• Hirings & Firings

During the past three years, the formation of shell companies through the use of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Form 10 has proliferated. Many in the reverse merger and PIPE space find these shells an efficient and valuable tool to take a company public. Some have defended and others have criticized, and there are certainly pros and cons to these so-called "virgin" shells. Full Story

• China Energy Recovery
• China Renewable Energy Holdings
• COPsync
• CrowdGather
• Etelos
• Marani Spirits
• Shanghai Medical Technology Co
• SkyPostal
• SmartHeat Inc.
• Wealthlink Co.
• Yongye Biotechnology International

• Shell Merger Tracker
• Declared Shell Companies