Charlotte, N.C., Jan. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Akoustis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKTS), an integrated device manufacturer (IDM) of patented bulk acoustic wave (BAW) high-band RF filters for mobile and other wireless applications, announced today that it has issued a redemption notice to the holders of the Company’s outstanding $15,000,000 aggregate principal amount of 6.5% Convertible Senior Secured Notes due 2023, pursuant to the indenture governing the Notes. The Company will redeem all Notes that continue to be outstanding on March 1, 2021.

The Company will pay holders of the Notes that are redeemed a redemption price equal to 100% of the aggregate principal amount of Notes being redeemed, plus $0.18 of accrued and unpaid interest for each $1,000 principal amount of Notes being redeemed.

Alternatively, holders of the Notes may elect to convert the Notes into shares of common stock of the Company at a conversion rate equal to 200 shares of common stock per $1,000 principal amount of Notes (equivalent to a conversion price of approximately $5.00 per share) as well as an interest make-whole payment with respect to those Notes that are converted equal to the sum of the remaining interest payments that would have been made on such Notes had they remained outstanding through May 31, 2021. The make-whole payment will be paid by the Company in freely tradeable shares of its common stock, unless the Company delivers prior written notice to each holder of Notes that the Company will pay a portion or all of the make-whole payment in cash. This conversion right will terminate at the close of business on February 26, 2021.

Jeff Shealy, founder and CEO of Akoustis, stated, “I am pleased to report that we will be improving our balance sheet by retiring this convertible debt.” Mr. Shealy continued, “Retiring these notes will leave Akoustis with no outstanding convertible debt, placing the Company in stronger financial footing as we enter 2021.”

The details concerning the terms and conditions of the redemption are fully described in the redemption notice, a copy of which was filed with the SEC in a current report on Form 8-K on January 25, 2021. This press release is not a notice of redemption. The redemption will be made solely pursuant to the redemption notice.

This announcement does not constitute an offer to buy or sell, or the solicitation of an offer to sell or buy, securities in any jurisdiction.

Akoustis’ high frequency, high performance XBAW^® process and filters are experiencing growing interest as the Company entered production in multiple markets in calendar 2020, including 5G network infrastructure, high-band WiFi and phased-array radar applications.

About Akoustis Technologies, Inc.

Akoustis^® (http://www.akoustis.com/) is a high-tech BAW RF filter solutions company that is pioneering next-generation materials science and MEMS wafer manufacturing to address the market requirements for improved RF filters - targeting higher bandwidth, higher operating frequencies and higher output power compared to incumbent polycrystalline BAW technology deployed today. The Company utilizes its proprietary 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 high-purity, single-crystal and associated piezoelectric materials and the resonator-filter process technology which drives electro-mechanical coupling and translates to wide filter bandwidth.

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 120,000 sq. ft. ISO-9001:2015 registered commercial wafer-manufacturing facility located in Canandaigua, NY, which includes a class 100 / class 1000 cleanroom facility - tooled for 150-mm 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.