Palm, Inc. announced today that Elevation Partners has agreed to make an additional $100 million equity investment in Palm. Under a definitive agreement reached today, Elevation will increase its investment in Palm by acquiring newly issued Series C preferred stock that is convertible into Palm common stock at a price of $3.25 per share, a 31 percent premium to the closing price of Palm commn stock on Dec. 19, 2008.
According to the press release, the Series C preferred stock carries a 0% dividend rate. Elevation will also receive warrants to acquire 7 million shares of Palm common stock at the same price. Prior to March 31, 2009, Palm may elect to cause Elevation to sell up to $49 million of this new investment to other investors on the same or better terms than on which Elevation invested.
From the press release:
"The additional capital from Elevation Partners will enable us to put added momentum behind the new product introductions scheduled for 2009 and will provide us with enhanced stability in unsettled economic times," said Ed Colligan, president and chief executive officer of Palm, Inc. "Elevation has been a great partner to Palm, and we appreciate their continued confidence and support."
"We believe that Palm is in a position to transform the cell phone industry, and we are pleased to have the opportunity to make this additional investment in the company. Palm has an industry-leading team and an exciting, differentiated product roadmap. We are proud to be associated with the company and look forward to great things from Palm in 2009 and beyond," stated Roger McNamee, co-founder of Elevation Partners.
The press release contains a "cautionary statement saying that the information given doesn't constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security, etc. There is also a long paragraph on "forward-looking statements".
You can read the full press release here.
Good to know that Elevation Partners is standing firmly behind Palm. It's great that Palm is getting the extra capital from Elevation Partners, but it shows just how hard Palm is struggling at the moment. I'm sure Elevation Partners know what we don't yet know about Palm's new platform and how, as Roger McNamee said, "We believe that Palm is in a position to transform the cell phone industry". I guess we'll find out in a little more than two weeks what Palm has up its sleeve. I can't wait!
