SEC Company Response from SPATIALIGHT INC (CIK 0000881468) — Nov 4, 2005
SPATIALIGHT INC (CIK 0000881468)
Date: Nov. 4, 2005 · CIK: 0000881468 · Accession: 0001144204-05-034070
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 333-122391, 333-122392
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[LOGO]
SpatiaLight(r)
Microdisplays
November 4, 2005
Via EDGAR, Facsimile and Federal Express
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Attn: Donald C. Hunt, Esq., Attorney Advisor
Division of Corporation Finance
100 F Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20549-0306
Tel: (202) 551-3647
Re: SpatiaLight, Inc. (the "Company"), Post Effective Amendments No. 1 to
Registration Statements on Form S-3 filed August 23, 2005 (File No.
333-122391, the "Financing Registration Statement") (File No. 333-122392,
the "Shelf Registration Statement"), and Documents Incorporated by
Reference Therein
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We submit this letter to the Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance of the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission") in response to its
comments, dated October 5, 2005 (the "Comment Letter"), with respect to the
Company's Post Effective Amendments, dated August 23, 2005 (collectively, the
"Post Effective Amendments") to the Financing Registration Statement and the
Shelf Registration Statement (collectively, the "Registration Statements"). We
have previously submitted a response letter on September 28, 2005, (the
"September Response Letter") in response to an earlier comment letter from the
Commission. For the Staff's convenience, the responses set forth below are
numbered to correspond to the comments in the Commission Letter and we have also
set forth such comments for the convenience of the Staff.
In connection with our response to the issues raised by the Comment Letter, we
request that the Staff consider the following:
1. Since we became aware of the problem of the invalid consents described
in the Post-Effective Amendments, we have engaged our current auditors,
Odenberg, Ullakko, Muranishi & Co. ("OUM"), an independent registered public
accounting firm, to re-audit our financial statements for our fiscal years ended
December 31, 2002 and 2003. OUM has completed its re-audit and has issued a
report regarding the Company's financial statements for fiscal year 2003 and
2002, and this report has been filed as part of an amendment on Form 10-K/A
filed with the Commission on October 24, 2005.
Five Hamilton Landing, Suite 100 o Novato, CA 94949
415 883-1693 o Fax 415 883-3363
www.spatialight.com
<PAGE>
November 4, 2005
Page 2
2. The Audit Committee of our Board of Directors has commenced and has
undertaken an independent review of the circumstances pertaining to the BDO
Seidman consent described in the Post-Effective Amendments. As part of this
review, the Audit Committee has retained independent counsel, Keker & Van Nest
LLP, to investigate how and why unauthorized consents of BDO Seidman were filed
in the final and penultimate amendments to the Registration Statements.
3. The Audit Committee of our Board will be examining various alternative
remedial measures to attempt to improve our internal controls to reasonably
assure that issues such as the unauthorized filings of the BDO Seidman consents
may be prevented in the future to the fullest extent practicable. After the
Audit Committee completes the review referred to in paragraph 2 above, we will
review and seek to implement such remedial measures as will be set forth in the
Audit Committee's report and the internal control issues and remedial measures
in reference shall be the subject of appropriate disclosure in filings to be
made to the Commission in a timely manner.
We bring these measures taken by the Company to the attention of the Staff so
that the Staff is made aware of the seriousness and concern with which the
Company's management and its Board have reacted to and view the problems
associated with and pertaining to the improperly authorized BDO Seidman
consents.
Post-Effective Amendments to Forms S-3 (File Nos. 333-122391 and 333-122392)
1. We note your response to comment 1; however, you should promptly file
post-effective amendments to deregister unsold shares. Please note that
your principal financial officer and principal accounting officer or
controller must sign post-effective amendments to Securities Act
registration statements. You may file new registrations statements when
you are able to submit fully compliant documents.
As noted earlier in this letter, our auditors, OUM, have completed an audit of
the Company's financial statements and schedules for fiscal years 2003 and 2002.
We filed OUM's report regarding the financial statements as an amendment on Form
10-K/A to the Company's Annual Report on From 10-K on October 24, 2005. Although
we concede the Commission's position that any registration statement that lacks
an auditor's consent to incorporate by reference audited financial statements
and schedules for earlier fiscal years is materially defective, we believe that
this type of defect may be cured by filing a post-effective amendment that would
be accompanied by a new valid consent to incorporate by reference the financial
statements reported upon by independent accountants for the earlier fiscal years
in reference. We believe that the matter under scrutiny is analogous to a
situation where a document, which would typically be required to be filed as an
exhibit, contained a material defect or does not constitute the proper document
for exhibit purposes under SEC regulation - - in that situation, we believe that
the Commission would allow the registrant to correct the defect through the
filing of a post-effective amendment with the appropriate corrected exhibit.
Similarly, the absence of an authorized consent of the auditor to incorporate by
reference the financial statements that it has audited should not obligate the
Company to withdraw its Registration Statements if the Company is ready,
willing, and able to file post-effective amendments accompanied by a new exhibit
consisting of valid, duly obtained consents by OUM to incorporate by reference
audited financial statements from the Company's independent accountants who have
undertaken the audit.
Five Hamilton Landing, Suite 100 o Novato, CA 94949
415 883-1693 o Fax 415 883-3363
www.spatialight.com
<PAGE>
November 4, 2005
Page 3
We respectfully submit that filing an additional post-effective amendment to
each of the Registration Statements would accomplish, with less confusion to the
markets, the approach and objectives of the regulatory scheme governing
disclosure by public companies. It is our view that the filing of new
post-effective amendments cures the defect in the original registration
statement and, in our view, we "are able to submit fully compliant documents."
(See third sentence of comment 1 of the Comment Letter). Further, as we noted in
our Post-Effective Amendments and confirmed to the Staff in the September
Response Letter, since we have taken steps to assure that at this time no
resales will take place under the prospectus from the Financing Registration
Statement and no future sales will be made from the Shelf Registration
Statement, we do not perceive why our proposal to file new post effective
amendments accompanied by appropriate independent accountants' consents would
not constitute a legitimate alternative to the Staff's position that we withdraw
the original registration statements under the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended (the "Securities Act"). In connection herewith, we are prepared to file
such post-effective amendments accompanied by the new consents as exhibits
thereto as soon as we are advised whether the Staff accepts our foregoing
proposal. Any such post-effective amendment would also contain disclosure
respecting the Staff's inquiry arising from the BDO Seidman consent in reference
as well as the investigation by the Company's Audit Committee.
2. We note that nobody signed your August 23, 2005 post-effective amendments
in the capacities of principal financing officer and principal accounting
officer or controller. Please tell us why not.
As noted in our response to comment 6 in the September Response Letter, Kim
Tsuchimoto, who was formerly our principal financial and accounting officer, did
not sign the Post-Effective Amendments because she resigned on August 23, 2005,
immediately before the time on the date the Company filed the Post-Effective
Amendments in question, and was therefore no longer the Company's principal
financial and accounting officer at the time we filed the Post-Effective
Amendments.
The Company determined, following Ms. Tsuchimoto's resignation, that it was
appropriate to file the post-effective amendments as expeditiously as possible
to inform the investing public of the problem with BDO's consent in a timely
manner. At the time of the filing of the Post-Effective Amendments, the Company
had not appointed a new principal financial and accounting officer. Therefore,
at such time, we did not believe that there was any employee who was authorized
to sign the Post-Effective Amendments in such capacity. The undersigned did sign
the Post-Effective Amendments in his capacity as Chief Executive Officer and has
signed subsequent filings made with the Commission in the dual capacities of
Chief Executive Officer and principal financial and accounting officer.
3. Please expand your response to comment 3 to tell us whether any of the
selling shareholders sold any of the securities included in the applicable
registration statement.
Five Hamilton Landing, Suite 100 o Novato, CA 94949
415 883-1693 o Fax 415 883-3363
www.spatialight.com
<PAGE>
November 4, 2005
Page 4
We do not have specific knowledge of any sales of securities by any of the
selling shareholders pursuant to the Financing Registration Statement. In an
attempt to respond to this comment of the Staff as completely as practicable, we
contacted our transfer agent, American Stock Transfer & Trust Co. ("AST&T") on
multiple occasions in October 2005 and on November 1, 2005, to inquire as to
whether they had knowledge of any such sales by the selling shareholders.
However, on November 1, AST&T advised us that they do not keep records of such
sales and were therefore unable to provide us with any additional relevant
information.
4. Expand your response to comment 8 to provide a detailed analysis of any
legal authority that supports your conclusions regarding (1) whether the
option was a "security" for purposes of the Securities Act, and (2)
whether the offer and sale of the security was exempt from registration
under the Act.
In response to this comment of the Staff, we respectfully submit that:
1. The right to purchase "additional securities" pursuant to the August 5,
2005 Purchase Agreement between the Company and certain institutional purchasers
(the "Purchase Agreement") did not and does not constitute a "security" within
the meaning of the Securities Act for the following reasons:
(a) The Purchase Agreement was structured as an offer to purchase
shares by the institutional purchasers named therein from the Company, an offer
which the Company accepted. The Purchase Agreement described the "rights" to
purchase additional shares. The provisions governing the "right" to the
potential purchase of additional shares could have been availed of by one or
more of the purchasers within two days of a notice delivered by a purchaser
after the date of the initial closing or at any time thereafter during the
relatively short term 30 day period at a higher price than that at which the
initial Shares were sold to them under the Purchase Agreement. That "right" was
not represented by a separate instrument and was not subject to other
traditional clauses or conditions, such as an anti-dilution clause, a special
reservation or allocation of shares requirement of the Company, a separate
Registration Rights Agreement or any other provisions which are standard or
typical for "options" or "rights" which may be deemed securities within the
meaning of the Securities Act. Nor is there any evidence that the "right" was,
or was intended to be, transferable in whole or in part, to any third party or
parties. Indeed, as noted above, the "right" questioned by the Staff could have
resulted in the consummated purchase of the additional Common Shares within
several days after the date of the initial closing Purchase Agreement or at any
other time during the 30 day period referring thereto in the Purchase Agreement.
Had such additional Shares been purchased by all or some of the purchasers
within several days after the date of the Purchase Agreement, we seriously doubt
whether the Staff of the Commission would have even raised the question of
whether this very short-term "right" constituted a "security." The short term
nature of this "contractual right" and the absence of all the other features
which characterize a security appear to demonstrate that the "right" in
reference did not and does not constitute a security.
(b) We acknowledge that the definition of a "security" under Section
2(a)(1) of the Securities Act includes "rights" and "options" but, for the
reasons indicated in clause (a) above, we do not believe that the recitation of
those terms, among many others, in Section 2(a)(1) should be the controlling
factor in their definition. In this respect, we respectfully remind the Staff
that the introductory clause to the definitions under Section 2 of the
Securities Act expressly notes that terms used in Section 2 should have the
meanings set forth therein "unless the context otherwise requires." When
determining the applicability of the phrase "unless the context otherwise
requires", in the introductory clause to Section 2 of the Securities Act, we
believe that the Federal courts, in interpreting the provisions of the Federal
securities statutes, including the definitions of terms used therein, have
consistently and repeatedly held that these provisions should be interpreted to
serve the "remedial" purposes of these statutes. We respectfully urge the Staff
to consider how and in what manner determining that the "right" in reference is
a security serves the remedial purposes of the Securities Act where, as here,
this rather short term "right" was made available to the same small group of
investors, all of whom had previously purchased securities issued by the
Company, and who had just purchased Shares of the Company in reliance upon a
current prospectus containing considerable disclosure with respect to the
Company and the risks of an investment in its shares.
Five Hamilton Landing, Suite 100 o Novato, CA 94949
415 883-1693 o Fax 415 883-3363
www.spatialight.com
<PAGE>
November 4, 2005
Page 5
(c) Clearly, the contractual right in reference does not constitute
an "investment contract" within the meaning of the Securities Act since it does
not constitute an investment in a common enterprise to be managed by third
parties for a