Update 2: Universal Display announced the pricing of the public offering: $46 per share. They will sell 5 million shares (plus additional optional 750,000 if there is over-allotments). The net proceeds will be around $217 million (and $250 million if the optional shares are sold as well).
Update: According to a Korea Times article, UDC lost the patent suit in Japan, and their PHOLED material patents have been invalidated - which means that other companies can make phosphorescent OLED materials, at least in Japan. We're not sure if this report is valid though as UDC said yesterday they are still awaiting news on that lawsuit, and we're not sure if those patents aren't material...
Universal Display announced plans to offer 5 million common stocks, which will raise around $225 million according to the current stock price. UDC has around $70 million in cash currently, so it'll be interested to see what they plan to do with so much money. Perhaps they want to acquire a company or they actually do plan to become an OLED lighting manufacturer...
The company also announced that they are expecting a decision on their Japanese patent challenges (for JAP patents #4357781 and #4358168). These patents lawsuits can be long and expensive (the challenges were filed on May 2010) and perhaps UDC simply wants cash to protect their IP. Back in 2009 the company faced similar challenges on a flexible OLED patent in Europe - but these were later rejected.
In Yahoo Finance UDC message board there are some interesting discussions about this funding round. Several people suggest Novaled as a possible buyout target. Novaled offers complementary products (doping materials for the transport layers) and shares Samsung as a customer. Novaled had â¬11.2 million in revenue in 2010, and two of their founders recently left the company, so perhaps they are indeed looking for a buyout.
Another interesting suggestion is that UDC will acquire a chemical producing company to start making their own materials (which are made today by PPG Industries). Time will tell...
