Three directors of AdSlot sold $1.8 million of shares last week to cover margin calls on loans over their shareholdings.

CEO Ian Lowe, chairman Andrew Barlow and director Adrian Giles took out margin loans against their shareholdings — a total of 30.8 million shares, or 2.4 per cent of the business — between May 2015 and November 2016.

To cover “successive margin calls” in late 2017 and early 2018 the three directors collectively gave the lender 6.7 million shares.

However “the receipt of further significant margin calls which fell due [this week]” pushed the trio into selling 37.5 million shares that weren’t used as loan collateral to pay off the debts .

“The company has reasonable grounds to believe that the lender has previously disposed of most, if not all, of the 30,815,940 secured shares in the normal course of trading over a period of time prior to February 2017,” AdSlot said.

“The lender still holds all of the 6,694,396 margin shares… [and] has agreed to work with the company to effect an orderly disposal of those shares over a period of time.”

Mr Barlow sold 21.1 million shares for almost $1 million.

Mr Giles sold 12.5 million shares for $578,000.

Mr Lowe sold 3.9 million shares for $183,000.

The value of AdSlot (ASX:ADJ) shares has been consistently falling since August 2016, with a steep decline in February to lows not seen since 2013.

Those shares closed on Friday at 2.5c.

AdSlot shares since June 2016.

No love for cap raise lifeline

Three of the eight-strong Blackham Resources (ASX:BLK) board supported a life-saving $35 million capital raise that took place in mid-February.

Newly vocal chairman Milan Jerkovic nixed some expiring, and ambitiously priced, 46c options, and instead, alongside CEO Bryan Dixon and director Greg Miles, took up a sizable chunk of the 4c share and free 8c option offer.

Collectively they spent just over $55,000 on 13.8 million shares, and for their troubles received 6.9 million options free as part of the offer.

The capital raising saw a shortfall of 27 per cent. It lifted the number of shares on issue from 343 million to 1.27 billion.

Mr Dixon and Mr Jerkovic own 17.8 million shares between them.

Loans, buying the dip, and PR

West African Resources (ASX:WAF) managing director Richard Hyde has exercised $290,000 options and used them as collateral to take out a loan from the company.

Mr Hyde is paying a 5.5 per cent interest rate on the loan, taken out to help him pay to exercise those options. The loan is due on June 30 this year.

The biggest deal in small cap land last week was BWX’s CEO buying nearly $1 million of shares on market.

The boss of the skin care products company (ASX:BWX) bought 193,373 shares at just over $5 a piece. He now owns 8.4 per cent of BWX.

Chairman Dennis Shelley was a more modest spender, buying $21,000 of shares.

Capilano Honey (ASX:CZZ) directors have been taking advantage of the dip to buy up stock as Brian O’Donnell and Julie Pascoe loaded up.

The stock fell from a peak of $19.6 in mid-January to $16.45 in early February.

Mr O’Donnell bought his first piece of Capilano with a purchase of 3500 shares at $60,000 for his super fund, while Ms Pascoe bought an extra 4,850 shares for $82,000.

eSense Lab (ASX:ESE) has cancelled the conversion of the latest performance rights, in a bid to stave off further queries from the ASX and an irate group of Israeli shareholders.

The latter believes the hurdle to convert those rights — signing binding contracts of $1 million between February 2017 and February 2018 — was not met. Their questions prompted an ASX enquiry.

New chairman Ilan Said, CEO Haim Cohen, and directors Eran Gilboa and Benjamin Karasik converted their options while rebel, Australia based, board members Brendan de Kauwe and Quentin Megson did not.

With that group of shareholders gearing up to vote against the current board at an AGM in March, now mandated by an Israeli court so it can’t be delayed a fourth time, the board has reversed the conversion of 9.5 million performance rights.

“The holders have agreed to place the applicable CDIs and Class E Performance Rights [issued on conversion of the Class C rights] in trust,” the company said, until it receives that $1 million in cash or the company releases them.