SEC Company Response from Uni-Pixel (CIK 0001171012) — Apr 1, 2005
Uni-Pixel (CIK 0001171012)
Date: April 1, 2005 · CIK: 0001171012 · Accession: 0001104659-05-014804
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
Referenced dates: March 18, 2005
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CORRESP 1 filename1.htm [Winstead Sechrest & Minick P.C. Letterhead] April 1, 2005 direct dial: 512.370.2837 dwindham@winstead.com Mr. Thomas A. Jones Division of Corporation Finance Securities and Exchange Commission Mail Stop 03-06 450 Fifth Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20549 Re: Uni-Pixel, Inc. Amendment No. 1 to Form 10-SB Filed April 1, 2005 File No. 0-49737 Dear Mr. Jones: On behalf of our client, Uni-Pixel, Inc. (the “Company”), we are enclosing a courtesy copy of the Company’s Amendment No. 1 to Form 10-SB as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) on April 1, 2005. The exhibits to the Amendment No. 1 to Form 10-SB are not included, but we would be happy to deliver them to you upon request. In connection with comments received from the Staff by a letter dated March 18, 2005, the following is an identification of the portions of the enclosed Amendment No. 1 to Form 10-SB which are responsive to the comments as well as supplemental responses where appropriate. For the convenience of the Staff, we have repeated the comments of the Staff letter below and followed each comment with the response of the Company to the comment and a cross-reference to the responsive portions of the Amendment No. 1 to Form 10-SB, which portions are also highlighted and tabbed in the enclosed courtesy copy of the Amendment No. 1 to Form 10-SB. Part I Item 1. Description of Business - Page 1 Overview - Page 1 1. Please expand the first paragraph to quantify the amount of your accumulated deficit. Also revise the related disclosure on page 12. In Item 1, Description of Business – Overview, on page 1 and in Item 1, Description of Business – Risk Factors, on page 15, the Company expanded its disclosures to quantify the amount of its accumulated deficit as of December 31, 2004, which was $8,775,995 from operations. 2. We note your disclosure here and on page 3 regarding the size and estimated growth of the electronic display market. Please supplementally provide us with the reports of DisplaySearch and mark the section or sections of the supplemental materials that supports your statements. With a view toward disclosure, also tell us whether you commissioned the research conducted by DisplaySearch. Attached to this letter are excerpts from the January 24, 2005, Quarterly Worldwide Flat Panel Forecast Report of DisplaySearch and the DisplaySearch 7th Annual DisplaySearch US FPD Conference in March 2005 titled “Survival of the Fittest: Managing the Peaks and Valleys of SupplyDemand,” marked to show the sections that support the Company’s statements in Item 1, Description of Business-Overview on pages 1 and 2 and in Item 1, Description of Business – Industry Overview, on page 5 regarding the size and estimated growth of the electronic display market. The Company did not commission the research conducted by DisplaySearch. The independent reports were published by DisplaySearch for industry-wide use, the Company has an annual subscription to the reports and the Company has DisplaySearch’s permission to use the report results in the Form 10-SB. 3. Please explain to us your reasonable basis for concluding that the TMOS technology is more economical, durable, reliable and efficient than existing competitive products, such as LCD and plasma displays, when you have not yet commercialized a product based on this technology. In this regard, we note your disclosure on page 16 regarding the risk that the TMOS technology may not be commercially or technically feasible for broad-based product applications. In Item 1, Description of Business – Overview, on pages 1 through 3, the Company explained its reasonable basis for concluding that the TMOS technology is more economical, durable, reliable and efficient than existing competitive products. 4. We note your disclosure that you have had “only a few revenue-generating services or development contracts.” Here and on page 12, please revise to quantify the revenues you have recorded to date and the time period over which you recorded these revenues. Furthermore, please revise to identify the military contractor, the personal computer company, and the military agency to which you refer on page 3, as well as the national laboratory and leading military contractor on page 4. Clarify the nature of your relationship with each of these parties. Confidential Treatment Requested by Uni-Pixel, Inc. – UP0001. Our Competitive Strengths - Page 4 5. Please reconcile your statement that you have adopted what you believe to be an “innovative,” business model with your disclosure on page 10 that some of your competitors follow a similar business model. 2 The Company added an explanation to Item 1, Description of Business – Our Competitive Strengths, on page 7, and Item 1, Description of Business – Competition, on page 13 to state why it believes that its business model is innovative and to distinguish it from the business models followed by some of its competitors. 6. We note your disclosure that you have entered into research and development agreements with a United States government agency under the Small Business Innovation Research program, through which you have received or will receive some funding. Please identify the government agency, quantify the amount of funding you have received or expect to receive under this program, and indicate when the agreements expire. Also expand your disclosure to describe briefly the government’s rights to your technology under these agreements. In Item 1, Description of Business – Our Competitive Strengths, on pages 6 and 7 and in Item 1, Description of Business – Risk Factors, on page 15, the Company revised its disclosures to identify the government agency as the United States Air Force, to quantify that the amount of funding expected under the program’s Phase One grant is $98,214 and the Phase Two grant is $686,966, to indicate that the Company will deliver prototype panels to the United States Air Force examiners by March 2006 and to describe the government’s rights to the Company’s technology under the agreements. Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis or Plan of Operation - Page 20 Results of Operations - Comparison of Fiscal Years Ending December 31, 2004 and 2003 – Page 20 7. Please revise your disclosure to explain the reasons underlying the factors you cite for the change in your results. For example, we note you attribute the increase, in selling, general and administrative expenses from 2003 to 2004 to an increase in salary expense and in legal fees. Please revise to explain why salary expense increased, and why legal fees increased. For instance, did your salary expense increase due to an increase in the number of employees, or another reason? Refer to Exchange Act Release No. 34-48960 (December 19, 2003), available on our website at www.sec.gov. The Company has made several revisions to Item 2, Management’s Discussion and Analysis or Plan of Operation, on pages 23 through 25 to explain the reasons for changes in its results. The Company believes that it has explained the reasons underlying the factors cited for the changes in results in Item 2, Management’s Discussion and Analysis or Plan of Operation. The Company is in a development stage so almost all of the changes year to year are attributable to increases in salaries and benefits associated with the hiring of additional 3 administrative and research and development employees and increased research and development costs. 8. Please revise to clarify the term “impacts of additional debt financing” to which you attribute an increase in interest expense of almost 50% from 2003 to 2004. In Item 2, Management’s Discussion and Analysis or Plan of Operation, on page 23, the Company revised its disclosure to clarify the term “impacts of additional debt financing” to explain that it referred to a $1 million increase in principal amount of convertible promissory notes. Historical Cash Flows – Page 20 9. We note that your discussion of changes in cash flows is a recitation in narrative form of certain items within your cash flow statement. For instance, we note that the increase in cash used in operating activities is attributed “primarily” to increased research and development spending and increased general and administrative expenses; however, only $827,000 of the $1,282,000 increase in operating cash flow is attributable to the items specified. Please revise, to discuss the reason for the remaining increase in your operating cash flow, and describe the reasons underlying the changes in your operating cash flow. In Item 2, Management’s Discussion and Analysis or Plan of Operation – Historical Cash Flows, on page 24, the Company clarified that the increased research and development spending and increased general and administrative expenses represented $1,177,000 of the $1,282,000 total increase in spending. The $827,000 referred to in this question represents the increase in research and development and general and administrative expenses on an accrual basis rather than a cash basis. After adjustment for the reduction in accounts payable of $350,000, the cash basis impact of the increase in research and development and general and administrative expenses totals $1,177,000 of the $1,282,000 total increase in spending. Liquidity and Financial Condition - Page 21 10. Please revise to discuss any known trends, events or uncertainties that have or are reasonably likely to have a material impact on your short-term or long-term liquidity. For example, we note your disclosure on page 20 that your interest expense increased due to the “impacts of additional debt financing.” The Company revised Item 2, Management’s Discussion and Analysis or Plan of Operation – Liquidity and Capital Resources section on page 24 to discuss the length of time the current cash reserves will sustain the Company and to state that it is not aware of any trends, events or uncertainties that would have a material impact on its short-term or 4 long-term liquidity. Item 5. Directors, Executive Officers, Promoters and Control Persons - Page 24 11. We note that Section 1 of Exhibit 10.2 indicates that you have agreed to elect one director designated by the Fordham Financial Management to the board of directors, and that the director will be compensated and will receive reimbursed expenses for attending meetings of the board. Please revise the appropriate sections of your document to discuss this arrangement and to disclose the terms of any non-employee director compensation. In Item 5, Directors, Executive Officers, Promoters and Control Persons, on page 29, in Item 6, Executive Compensation on page 30 and in Item 7, Certain Relationships and Related Transactions – Placement Agent Agreement on page 35, the Company revised its disclosures to discuss the details of its arrangement with Fordham Financial Management to elect one director designated by Fordham and to discuss the Company’s current compensation arrangement for non-employee directors. Item 6. Executive Compensation – Page 26 Summary Compensation Table – Page 26 12. Please revise the table to disclose the named executive officers’ compensation for the last three fiscal years. Refer to Item 402(b)(2) of Regulation S-B. The Instruction to Item 402(b) set forth immediately prior to Item 402(c) states: “Information with respect to fiscal years prior to the last completed fiscal year will not be required if the registrant was not a reporting company pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act at any time during that year, except that the registrant will be required to provide information for any such year if that information previously was required to be provided in response to a Commission filing requirement.” Additionally, we note that the Company’s predecessor company, Real-Estateforlease.com, Inc., filed a Form 10-SB on April 18, 2002, which it subsequently withdrew June 4, 2002, prior to the Form 10-SB’s becoming effective. Therefore, the Company was not previously a reporting company pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act and is not required to report this information for 2002 and 2003. 13. Please supplementally advise, with a view to disclosure, why this section does not address the advances and cancellations discussed in Note 4 of the financial statements. Also, revise page 21 to discuss the impact on liquidity and capital resources. The Company has revised its disclosure in Item 6, Executive Compensation – Summary 5 Compensation Table on page 30 to address the advances and cancellations discussed in Note 4 of the financial statements. The Company also revised Item 7, Certain Relationships and Related Transactions – Payment of Accrued Salaries and Reduction of Trade Debt and Settlement of Employee Payroll on pages 33 and 34 to address the advances and cancellations discussed in Note 4 of the financial statements. The Company did not revise the discussion of liquidity and capital resources on page 24 because the Company does not believe that the advances and cancellations had any effect on liquidity and capital resources. 14. Please confirm that none of the options representing 1,490,000 shares of common stock that were issued to employees in 2004 were issued to named executive officers for which disclosure under Item 402 of Regulation S-B is required. Alternatively, please provide the disclosure required under this item. In Item 6, Executive Compensation – Summary Compensation Table on page 30, the Company revised its disclosure to describe the options issued to the named executive officers. Item 7. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions - Page 26 15. Please revise to provide the disclosure required under Item 404 of Regulation S-B with regard to the transactions described in Section 7.4, Section 8.5 and Section 8.6 of Exhibit 10.9. In Item 7, Certain Relationships and Related Transactions – Bridge Loan Agreement, Conversion of CapSource Notes and Payment of Accrued Salaries and Reduction of Trade Debt on pages 33 through 34, the Company revised its disclosure to include the transactions described in Sections 7.4, 8.5 and 8.6 of Exhibit 10.9. 16. Please revise to provide the disclosure required under Item 404 of Regulation S-B with regard to the $117,846 in employee advances receivable that were settled with your employees during 2004. The Company revised its disclosure in Item 7, Certain Relationships and Related Transactions – Settlement of Employee Payroll, on page 34 to include a description of the employee advances. The Merger Agreement - Page 26 17. We note your disclosures about the merger agreements in December 2004 between Uni-Pixel Displays, Inc., Uni-Pixel Merger Sub, Inc., Gemini V, Inc. and certain of your principal stockholders. Please revise this section to briefly explain the background of all entities involved in the transaction, to indicate the accounting 6 acquirer and the legal acquirer in the transaction and to clearly disclose how you accounted for the transaction. Consider adding graphic disclosures to the filing that present your current and former ownership structure and percentages. We may have further comments after reviewing your response and revisions. The Company revised Item 7, Certain Relationships and Related Transactions – The Merger Agreement, on pages 31 through 32 to explain further the background and role of the entities involved in the merger and to disclose the accounting treatment for the transaction. 18. Please revise this section to describe the assets purchased from Gemini V, Inc. for which you issued 2,917,250 shares of common stock. We note your disclosure in Note