Vringo Strikes While the Iron Is Hot

Intellectual property firm Vringo Inc. (NYSEMKT: VRNG) has announced a secondary stock offering of 10.34 million shares in direct offering at a price of $4.35 a share. The company expects gross proceeds of $45 million.

Vringo did not name the five "existing institutional investors" that will be acquiring the new shares, only that there is no placement agent or underwriter for the offering.

The shares will be sold on October 9, the same day that Vringo is scheduled to begin court-ordered settlement talks in a patent dispute with Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG). The suit charges Google with infringing on search technology patents Vringo acquired from a now-defunct search engine.

Earlier this week Google was denied a summary judgment dismissing the lawsuit, sending Vringo's shares from around $3.00 a share to the 52-week high the stock hit yesterday.

Shares of Vringo are down 10.5% in early trading this morning in a 52-week range of $0.68 to $5.55. The stock closed at $5.25 last night.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Internet, Law Tagged: GOOG, VRNG