Thursday's Small-Cap Winners & Losers

Praecis Pharmaceuticals (PRCS) enjoyed a stratospheric surge after pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) agreed to buy it for $5 a share, or about $54.8 million. The buyout price represents a premium of about 150% over Massachusetts-based Praecis's $2 closing price Wednesday. The companies expect the transaction to close in the first quarter of 2007. Praecis shares were trading up $2.90, or 145%, to $4.90. GlaxoSmithKline shares, meanwhile, were edging down 40 cents, or 0.8%, to $51.89.

Coastal Financial (CFCP) shot up on news that it would be bought by fellow Southeastern bank BB&T (BBT). The deal is valued at $394.6 million, or $17.04 a Coastal share. Coastal, based in Myrtle-Beach, S.C., says the transaction will close in the second quarter. Its shares were gaining $2.22, or 15.4%, to $16.66. BB&T shares were dipping 6 cents, or 0.1%, to $44.21.

Horizon Health (HORC) shares also ballooned on merger news. The Lewisville, Texas-based health care provider will be sold to Tennessee's Psychiatric Solutions (PSYS) for about $426 million. The acquisition values each Horizon share at $20. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter. Horizon was adding $3.20, or 19.8%, to $19.33. Psychiatric was up $1.43, or 4%, to $37.51.

Web service provider Onstream Media (ONSM) soared after it announced a sweeping upgrade of its automation and video-search capabilities. The Pompano Beach, Fla.-based company said its technology now easily interfaces with social networking sites and video advertising, and that it allows customers to easily publish videos to the Internet in various formats. New video processing capabilities can also convert speech within videos to text, allowing for more efficient and accurate searches. Shares were up $1.16, or 54.7%, to $3.28.

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