Demonstrates Investor Confidence in AEye’s
Business and Provides Access to Additional Capital to Support
Growth
AEye, Inc. (Nasdaq: LIDR), a global leader in adaptive,
high-performance LiDAR solutions, today announced that it has
entered into a common stock purchase agreement (the “Purchase
Agreement”) with Tumim Stone Capital LLC (“Tumim Stone”). Under the
terms and subject to the conditions of the Purchase Agreement, AEye
will have the right, but not the obligation, to issue and sell to
Tumim Stone up to $125 million of AEye’s common stock from
time-to-time over the approximately 36-month term of the Purchase
Agreement.
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AEye (LIDR) headquarters in the San
Francisco Bay Area (Photo: Business Wire)
Blair LaCorte, CEO of AEye, said, “Our existing cash, cash
equivalents, and marketable securities, combined with the expected
liquidity provided pursuant to this Purchase Agreement, currently
provides AEye with access to approximately $300 million of total
capital. This gives us tremendous operational and strategic
flexibility as we drive forward to achieve key product and
commercial milestones. Having led and scaled public companies
across several business cycles, our leadership team understands the
importance of securing access to sources of funding when capital
markets are strong. Put simply, this Purchase Agreement will allow
us to continue to execute from a position of strength.”
LaCorte continued, “We believe this commitment from Tumim Stone
underscores investor confidence in AEye’s business plan, including
a unique business model that leverages the automotive industry’s
existing value chain to drive the adoption of our high-performance
LiDAR solutions.”
AEye is experiencing growing product, customer, and partnership
momentum for its unique adaptive LiDAR. AEye’s 4Sight™ LiDAR was
recently awarded the prestigious CES 2022 Innovation Award. In the
automotive markets, the path to series production is accelerating
with Continental announcing the availability of the B sample of
their HRL131 long range LiDAR sensor based on AEye’s technology. In
industrial markets, 4Sight sensor production has moved to AEye’s
manufacturing partner, Sanmina, to expedite deliveries to customers
in the Intelligent Transportation System, trucking, rail,
construction, aerospace, and defense markets. AEye’s momentum is
also reflected in its growing footprint and team – having recently
opened offices in Korea and Japan, and expanding its presence in
Europe while attracting top LiDAR industry talent.
Under the terms of the Purchase Agreement, AEye has the right,
but not the obligation, to sell to Tumim Stone up to $125 million
of its common stock, subject to certain conditions. AEye may direct
Tumim Stone to purchase a number of shares not to exceed an amount
determined by AEye’s trading volume and stock price. Purchase
notices may be issued over the period commencing once certain
customary conditions are satisfied, including the filing and
securing effectiveness of a registration statement (the
“Registration Statement”) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission (the “SEC”) with respect to resale of the shares issued
pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, which is expected in
mid-to-late March 2022 upon AEye’s filing of its Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021, and ending
on the first day of the month next following the 36-month
anniversary of the Purchase Agreement.
AEye expects to use net proceeds from the financing over time
for working capital and general corporate purposes to support its
future growth.
As consideration for Tumim Stone’s commitment to purchase shares
of AEye’s common stock upon the terms and conditions set forth in
the Purchase Agreement, AEye will issue 302,634 shares of its
common stock to Tumim Stone.
AEye will be attending the Consumer Electronics Show in Las
Vegas from January 5-8, 2022.
This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the
solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of any
of the securities referred to in this news release in any state in
which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to
the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any
such state. Any offering of AEye’s common stock under the resale
registration statement referred to in this news release will be
made only by means of a prospectus.
About AEye
AEye is the premier provider of intelligent, next generation,
adaptive LiDAR for vehicle autonomy, ADAS, and robotic vision
applications. AEye’s Intelligent Detection and Ranging iDAR™ system
and 4Sight™ products leverage biomimicry and principles from
automated targeting applications used by the military to scan the
environment, intelligently focusing on what matters most, enabling
faster, more accurate, and more reliable perception. iDAR is the
only software configurable LiDAR with integrated deterministic
artificial intelligence, delivering industry-leading performance in
range, resolution, and speed. The company was founded in 2013 and
is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Forward-Looking
Statements
Certain statements included in this press release that are not
historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning
of the federal securities laws, including the safe harbor
provisions under the U. S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995. Forward-looking statements are sometimes accompanied by
words such as “believe,” “continue,” “project,” “expect,”
“anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “strategy,” “future,”
“opportunity,” “predict,” “plan,” “may,” “should,” “will,” “would,”
“potential,” “seem,” “seek,” “outlook,” and similar expressions
that predict or indicate future events or trends, or that are not
statements of historical matters. Forward-looking statements are
predictions, projections, and other statements about future events
that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a
result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward looking
statements included in this release include statements about the
availability and use of the common stock equity line established by
the Purchase Agreement, statements about the Company’s access to
$300 million in funds, statements regarding the filing and
effectiveness of a registration statement to be filed by AEye with
respect to the shares issued pursuant to the Purchase Agreement,
and statements about the Company’s product, customer and
partnership momentum, among others. These statements are based on
various assumptions, whether or not identified in this press
release. These forward-looking statements are provided for
illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve as and
must not be relied on by an investor as a guarantee, an assurance,
a prediction, or a definitive statement of fact or probability.
Actual events and circumstances are very difficult or impossible to
predict and will differ from the assumptions. Many actual events
and circumstances are beyond the control of AEye. Many factors
could cause actual future events to differ from the forward-looking
statements in this press release, including but not limited to: (i)
the risks that the Company will be unable to satisfy all of the
conditions in the Purchase Agreement necessary for Tumim Stone’s
obligation to purchase the Company’s shares to arise; (ii) the
risks that the Company will be unable to access the full $125
million equity line, or a substantial portion thereof, due to the
limitations in the Purchase Agreement, or otherwise; (iii) the
risks that the trading volume and price limitations will limit the
Company’s ability to access some or all of the equity line; (iv)
the risks that the Company will be unable to file the Registration
Statement with the SEC or that such Registration Statement is never
declared effective, or it is declared effective later than expected
impacting the Company’s ability to utilize the equity line as
desired; (v) the risks that the Company’s access to approximately
$300 million of total capital will not be sufficient for the
Company to reach breakeven and/or positive cashflow; (vi) the risks
that the Company’s licensing model that leverages the automotive
industry’s existing value chain may not be successful or yield
results in the timeframe expected; (vii) the risks that AEye may
not achieve its goal to deliver reliable, cost-effective, and
high-performance products that accelerate the adoption of LiDAR;
(vii) the risks that lidar adoption occurs slower than anticipated
or fails to occur at all; (ix) the risks that competing
technologies will improve overtime to become operationally
equivalent or more cost-effective, or both; (x) the risks that
competitors may introduce similar products into the market and such
competitive solution takes some or all of the market share away
from the AEye; (xi) the risks that AEye’s products will not meet
the diverse range of performance and functional requirements of
AEye’s target markets and customers; (xii) the risks that AEye’s
products will not function as anticipated by AEye or by AEye’s
target markets and customers; (xiii) the risks that the size of the
total available market for the use of LiDAR will be smaller than
predicted or take longer to come to fruition than predicted; (xiv)
the risks that laws and regulations are adopted impacting the use
of lidar that AEye is unable to comply with, in whole or in part;
(xv) the risks that changes in the competitive and regulated
industries in which AEye operates, variations in operating
performance across competitors, and changes in laws and regulations
affecting AEye’s business will negatively impact the Company’s
business; (xvi) the risks that AEye is unable to adequately
implement its business plans, forecasts, and other expectations,
and identify and realize additional opportunities; (xvii) the
potential inability of AEye to scale its manufacturing capacity or
to achieve efficiencies regarding its manufacturing processes or
other costs; and (xviii) the risks of downturns and a changing
regulatory landscape in the highly competitive and evolving
industry in which AEye operates. These risks and uncertainties may
be amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the Delta and
Omicron variants, which has caused significant economic
uncertainty. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You
should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks
and uncertainties described in the “Risk Factors” section of the
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q that AEye filed with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and other documents
filed by AEye or that will be filed by AEye from time to time with
the SEC. These filings identify and address other important risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to
differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date
they are made.
Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on
forward-looking statements; AEye assumes no obligation and does not
intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events, or
otherwise. AEye gives no assurance that AEye will achieve any of
its expectations.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211208006065/en/
Media Contact: AEye, Inc. Jennifer Deitsch
jennifer@aeye.ai 925-400-4366
Investors: Financial Profiles, Inc. Matt Keating
AEye@finprofiles.com 310-622-8230
John Brownell AEye@finprofiles.com 310-622-8489
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