Benzinga's Microcap Movers for Monday August 20, 2012

Below are highlights from Benzinga's daily coverage of small cap and microcap securities making big moves: Western Liberty Bancorp Shares of Western Liberty Bancorp WLBC, the Las Vegas, NV bank holding company of Service1st Bank of Nevada, rose 34.07% Monday on 58 times average volume. Western Alliance Bancorporation WAL and Western Liberty Bancorp WLBC announced Friday that they have signed a definitive agreement pursuant to which Western Alliance Bancorporation will acquire Western Liberty Bancorp. Immediately following the completion of the acquisition, Western Liberty's principal operating subsidiary, Service1st Bank of Nevada, will merge with and into Bank of Nevada, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Western Alliance Bancorporation. The Agreement provides that each shareholder of Western Liberty Bancorp may elect to receive either $4.02 in cash or 0.4341 of a share of Western Alliance Bancorporation for each Western Liberty share owned (based on existing shares of Western Liberty stock outstanding as of the date hereof and assuming the conversion of outstanding restricted stock units), subject to certain collar and proration provisions. The exchange is expected to be tax free, to the extent shareholders receive shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation. In aggregate, the transaction is valued at approximately $55 million. Western Liberty Bancorp closed at $3.82 on Monday. Adept Technology Shares of Adept Technology ADEP, the Pleasanton, CA provider of intelligent vision-guided robotics systems and services, rose 11.1% Monday on 18 times average volume. An article in Saturday's NY Times on assembly line robotics was most likely the cause of the move. Adept Technology closed at $4.00 on Monday. JinkoSolar Shares of JinkoSolar JKS, the China-based producer of photovoltaic products, rose 14.88% Monday on twice the average volume. JinkoSolar announced Monday that the Company's polycrystalline modules passed PID test at 85 Degrees Celsius/85% relative humidity, following the success of passing potential induced degradation test at 65 Degrees Celsius weeks ago. This achievement has made JinkoSolar the first company that passed both forward and reverse bias voltage tests under 85 Degrees Celsius/85% relative humidity, and was awarded with "Anti-PID" certificate at this condition by TUV-SUD. During the testing period, solar modules were exposed to 1,000 volts of bias voltage under the condition of 85 Degrees Celsius/85% relative humidity. In order to pass this extreme test, the maximum degradation of power output between initial and final measurement should not exceed 5%. The tested Jinko modules have successfully passed the stringent requirements set by TUV-SUD. JinkoSolar closed at $2.78 on Monday. 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. Benzinga recommends that you conduct your own due diligence and consult a certified financial professional for personalized advice about your financial situation.