Akoustis Announces Closing of Public Offering of Common Stock and Full Exercise of Underwriters’ Option to Purchase Additional Shares

Charlotte, N.C., Jan. 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Akoustis Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: AKTS) (“Akoustis” or the “Company”), an integrated device manufacturer of patented bulk acoustic wave (“BAW”) high-band radio frequency (“RF”) filters for mobile and other wireless applications, announced today the closing of its previously announced underwritten public offering of 12,545,454 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $2.75 per share, which included the exercise in full by the underwriters of their option to purchase 1,636,363 additional shares of Akoustis’ common stock.

Net proceeds to Akoustis, after deducting the underwriting discount and estimated offering expenses payable by Akoustis, were approximately $32.0 million. Akoustis intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to fund operations and the growth of its business, including capital expenditures, working capital, research and development, the commercialization of its technology, servicing its outstanding debt, potential strategic transactions, and other general corporate purposes. 

Akoustis management participated in the offering with over $1 million in aggregate investments, including an investment of $900K by Akoustis  Founder & CEO, Jeff Shealy.

Mr. Jeff Shealy, commented, “The capital raise comes at an important time in the history of  Akoustis, when we are experiencing growth in multiple premium RF filter end markets while strengthening our backend semiconductor manufacturing capabilities after the acquisition of GDSI”.  Mr. Shealy continued, “We are thankful to the quality investors who joined management’s participation in this oversubscribed offering”. 

B. Riley Securities acted as the sole book-running manager for the offering, and Craig-Hallum Capital Group and Roth Capital Partners acted as co-managers for the offering.

The offering was made pursuant to a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (No. 333-262540) that was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on February 15, 2022. A final prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus with respect to the offering has been filed with the SEC and is available on its website at http://www.sec.gov.  Copies of the final prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus may also be obtained from B. Riley Securities, Inc., 1300 17th Street North, Suite 1300, Arlington, VA 22209, by telephone at (703) 312-9580 or by email at prospectuses@brileyfin.com.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, the shares of common stock, nor will there be any sale of the shares of common stock in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale is not permitted.

About Akoustis Technologies, Inc.

Akoustis® is a BAW RF filter solutions company that is pioneering next-generation materials science and MEMS wafer semiconductor manufacturing to address the market requirements for improved RF filters - targeting higher bandwidth, higher operating frequencies and higher output power compared to legacy polycrystalline BAW technology. The Company utilizes its proprietary and patented XBAW® manufacturing process to produce bulk acoustic wave RF filters for mobile and other wireless markets, which facilitate signal acquisition and accelerate band performance between the antenna and digital back end. Superior performance is driven by the significant advances of poly-crystal, single-crystal and other high purity piezoelectric materials and the resonator-filter process technology which enables optimal trade-offs between critical power, frequency and bandwidth performance specifications.

Akoustis plans to service the fast growing multi-billion-dollar RF filter market using its integrated device manufacturer (IDM) business model. The Company owns and operates a 125,000 sq. ft. ISO-9001:2015 certified commercial wafer-manufacturing facility located in Canandaigua, NY, which includes a class 100 / class 1000 cleanroom facility - tooled for 6 inch diameter wafers - for the design, development, fabrication and packaging of RF filters, MEMS and other semiconductor devices. Akoustis Technologies, Inc. is headquartered in the Piedmont technology corridor near Charlotte, North Carolina.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that are intended to be covered by the “safe harbor” created by those sections. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the intended use of the net proceeds of the public offering of common stock. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts and typically are identified by use of terms such as “may,” “might,” “would,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “project,” “expect,” “plan,” “strategy,” “anticipate,” “attempt,” “develop,” “help,” “believe,” “think,” “estimate,” “predict,” “intend,” “forecast,” “seek,” “potential,” “possible,” “continue,” “future” and similar words, although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance, events or circumstances. Instead, these forward-looking statements are based on management’s current beliefs, expectations and assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated include, without limitation, risks relating to whether market and other general economic conditions; the fact that the Company’s management has broad discretion in the use of the proceeds from the sale of common stock in the offering; the Company’s limited operating history; the Company’s inability to generate revenues or achieve profitability; the Company’s ability to realize the anticipated benefits from business acquisitions (including the acquisitions of RFM Integrated Device, Inc. and Grinding and Dicing Services, Inc.); the possibility that costs or difficulties related to the integration of acquired businesses’ operations will be greater than expected and the possibility of disruptions to the Company’s business during integration efforts and strain on management time and resources; the results of the Company’s research and development activities, including uncertainties relating to semiconductor process manufacturing; the development of the Company’s XBAW® technology and products presently under development and the anticipated timing of such development; the Company’s ability to protect its intellectual property rights that are valuable to its business, including patent and other intellectual property rights; the Company’s ability to successfully manufacture, market and sell products based on the Company’s technologies; the Company’s ability to achieve qualification of its products for commercial manufacturing in a timely manner and the size and growth of the potential markets for any products so qualified; the Company’s limited number of patents; claims of infringement, misappropriation or misuse of third party intellectual property, including the lawsuit filed by Qorvo, Inc. in October 2021, that, regardless of merit, could result in significant expense and negatively impact business results; the Company’s inability to attract and retain qualified personnel; the Company’s reliance on third parties to complete certain processes in connection with the manufacture of its products; product quality and defects; existing or increased competition; the Company’s ability to meet the required specifications of customers and achieve qualification of its products for commercial manufacturing in a timely manner; the Company’s inability to successfully scale its New York wafer fabrication facility and related operations while maintaining quality control and assurance and avoiding delays in output; the rate and degree of market acceptance of any of the Company’s products; the Company’s ability to raise funding to support operations and the continued development and qualification of its products and the technologies underlying them; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Russian-Ukrainian conflict and other sources of volatility on the Company’s operations, financial condition and the worldwide economy; increases in prices for raw materials, labor, and fuel caused by rising inflation; the impact of potential shortages in supplies needed to manufacture the Company’s products, or needed by its customers to manufacture devices incorporating its products; the Company’s ability to service its outstanding indebtedness; the Company’s ability to achieve design wins from current and future customers; contracting with customers and other parties with greater bargaining power and agreeing to terms and conditions that may adversely affect the Company’s business; risks related to doing business in foreign countries, including China; any security breaches, cyber-attacks or other disruptions compromising the Company’s proprietary information and exposing us to liability; the Company’s failure to innovate or adapt to new or emerging technologies, including in relation to its competitors; the Company’s failure to comply with regulatory requirements; results of any arbitration or litigation that may arise; stock volatility and illiquidity; dilution caused by any future issuance of common stock or securities that are convertible into or exercisable for common stock; the Company’s failure to implement its business plans or strategies; and the Company’s ability to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting. These and other risks and uncertainties are described in more detail in the Risk Factors and Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations sections of the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and the Risk Factors sections of the final prospectus supplement describing the terms of the offering that was filed with the SEC. Considering these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking statements regarding future events and circumstances discussed in this document may not occur, and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements.  You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The forward-looking statements included in this document speak only as of the date hereof and, except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or privately any forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, for any reason after the date of this document to conform these statements to new information, actual results or to changes in its expectations.

Contact:

COMPANY:
Tom Sepenzis
Akoustis Technologies, Inc.
VP of Corporate Development & IR
(980) 689-4961
tsepenzis@akoustis.com
 
The Del Mar Consulting Group, Inc.
Robert B. Prag, President
(858) 794-9500
bprag@delmarconsulting.com