Posted June 29, 2017
STONY BROOK, N.Y. – Applied DNA Sciences, Inc., a provider of molecular technologies that enable supply chain security, anti-counterfeiting and anti-theft technology, product genotyping and DNA mass production for diagnostics and therapeutics, announced three news items over the last week.
Initial order to tag cotton received
Applied DNA, reported that it has received an order to tag 27.5 million pounds of cotton to kick off the 2017/2018 ginning season, composed of three U.S. cotton varietals. The three varietals are Pima, Delta and Acala, which fall under the PimaCott®, HomeGrown™ LoneStar™ and HomeGrown Acala™ programs. The company said it expects to ship SigNature® T DNA to mark 27.5 million pounds of cotton before the end of this month.
"Now in our third season, Applied DNA's SigNature T DNA has been meeting the need for supply chain traceability, transparency and trust within the cotton industry ecosystem with national retailers, their supply chain partners and consumers. We are proud to continue to tag, test and track cotton for the 2017/2018 ginning season," said Dr. James A. Hayward, president and CEO of Applied DNA. "This order demonstrates our success in further entrenching SigNature T DNA in an established revenue-generating vertical and in extending the adoption of our proven technology platform. Although we cannot predict the timing of follow-on orders, conversations with our customers lead us to believe that additional opportunities to tag cotton during the 2017/2018 ginning season are likely."
For this order, the customer has agreed to more customary and favorable payment terms, allowing for earlier revenue recognition than past cotton orders. This new order is incremental to DNA concentrate to tag 30 million pounds of cotton that was shipped during fiscal 2016 to establish an on-site reserve of SigNature T DNA before the harvest begins.
Licensing agreement with Himatsingka America
Applied DNA also announced the signing of a new licensing agreement with Himatsingka America, Inc., which is a part of the Himatsingka Group.
"This new agreement represents a strengthened partnership between Applied DNA and Himatsingka, as both companies are committed to meeting the need for supply chain traceability, transparency and trust within the cotton industry,” Hayward said. “Applied DNA is looking forward to continuing to work with the Himatsingka Group, and we are excited at the opportunity to expand market awareness and implement the technology into additional cotton supply chains."
Commenting on the development, Shrikant Himatsingka, managing director & CEO of Himatsingka Group, said: "We look forward to taking the Applied DNA technology platform global and continuing to bring cutting-edge track and trace capabilities to benefit stakeholders across the cotton value chain. The Himatsingka Group will leverage its world-class manufacturing and distribution capabilities to ensure that these innovations by Applied DNA find their place across global shelves and penetrate new categories of products."
$1.8 million private placement
Additionally, the company announced that it has entered into subscription agreements for a private placement of its Common Stock, par value $.001 per share, with a group of investors, including a key customer and all of the company's executive officers and members of the board of directors. The private placement was expected to close with respect to each investor by July 28.
As a result of the private placement, the company will issue and sell 1,025,574 shares of common stock at a price of $1.76 per share for total expected gross proceeds of $1,805,000. The Purchase Price represents the greatest of (i) $1.00, (ii) the volume-weighted average closing price at the end of each trading day of the Common Stock on the NASDAQ Capital Market for the period from June 21, 2017 through June 27, 2017) or (iii) the closing bid price of the Common Stock on the NASDAQ Capital Market on June 27, 2017.
The issuance of the Common Stock will be exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of such Securities Act and Regulation D promulgated thereunder and such Common Stock will therefore be restricted. Each investor will give representations that he or it was an "accredited investor" (as defined under Rule 501 of Regulation D) and that he or it is purchasing such securities without a present view toward a distribution of the securities. In addition, there was no general solicitation conducted in connection with the offer and sale of the securities.
"I am extremely pleased with the investment and support received from our management team, the board and a key customer in joining me in strengthening the company's balance sheet to give us additional resources with which to execute on our growth strategy,” Hayward said. “This investment was done without any discount or preference, without warrants or banking fees, offering the best value for the Company and for existing investors."
The company said it intends to use the aggregate net proceeds from the private placement for general corporate purposes, including working capital, capital expenditures, business development and research and development.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.
Source: Applied DNA Sciences
Applied DNA Sciences announces order, agreement, private placement of stock
