Forward Industries, the largest publicly traded Solana treasury company by $SOL holdings, plans to raise approximately $25 million through a registered direct offering to acquire more $SOL.
The company entered into a securities purchase agreement with an institutional investor for 3,125,000 shares of common stock at $8.00 per share. Forward expects the offering to close around September 24, subject to customary closing conditions.
After fees and offering expenses, Forward intends to use the net proceeds to purchase additional $SOL. The company said the strategy will grow the absolute size of its $SOL treasury while increasing $SOL per fully diluted share. A.G.P./Alliance Global Partners will act as the sole placement agent.
Forward Already Holds 8.16M $SOL
The capital raise follows a major expansion of Forward's $SOL holdings. On September 21, the company announced that it had accumulated approximately 357,000 $SOL through purchases and staking rewards between August 4 and September 20.
Forward holds approximately 8.16 million $SOL, representing about 1.39% of Solana's circulating supply.
Forward's latest raise could therefore add another significant amount of $SOL to an already large corporate treasury, depending on $SOL's price when the company deploys the capital.
The move also comes as other Solana treasury companies continue accumulating. On September 21, DeFi Development Corp. announced that it had acquired approximately 101,381 $SOL worth more than $10 million over the previous week, bringing its treasury to 2.49 million $SOL.
Speaking on SolanaFloor’s tradingFloor livestream, Forward Industries Chief Investment Officer Ryan Navi pointed to Solana's existing network effects as a key reason for the company's continued focus on the network.
Navi said he expects Solana's TVL to continue growing and personally believes it could eventually surpass Ethereum over the next 5 years or more.
Forward Continues Its Acquisition Push
The latest $SOL purchase strategy also fits into Forward's broader expansion campaign. On September 15, Forward submitted a new nonbinding proposal to acquire SkyAI at $2.13 per share, representing a 50% premium to SkyAI's September 14 closing price of $1.42.
The proposed transaction would give SkyAI shareholders cash and/or Forward shares at their election. The fixed exchange ratio of 0.306 Forward shares per SkyAI share implied a $2.13 value based on Forward's $6.95 closing price on September 14.
In June, SkyAI rejected Forward's all-stock proposal valuing its shares at $1.55, a 20% premium.
Forward's acquisition campaign extends beyond SkyAI. Also in June, Solana Company rejected Forward's proposal to combine the 2 companies at an implied value of approximately $1.63 per share. Forward also previously pursued an all-stock deal with Solmate.
These attempts show that Forward has considered both organic $SOL accumulation and consolidation with other digital asset treasury companies as it expands its Solana exposure. With 8.16 million $SOL already on its balance sheet, the company remains focused on increasing its holdings and cementing its place as Solana’s largest DAT.
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