Some money to tide us over/Equity Placement
Friday February 27, 8:46 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Ramtron Completes $17.4 Million Private Equity Placement
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Feb. 27, 1998--Ramtron International Corp. (NASDAQ:RMTR -
news) announced today that the company has completed
the sale of $17.4 million of convertible preferred stock in a private
placement with accredited investors.
Cappello Capital Corp. and CEA Montgomery Media L.L.C.
acted as the placement agents.
Ramtron plans to use the net proceeds of the equity placement
to fund working capital and for general corporate purposes,
including continued research and development, manufacturing,
and marketing of its ferroelectric random access memory
(FRAM(R)) and enhanced dynamic random access memory
(EDRAM(R)) technologies.
The convertible preferred stock pays a 6% dividend payable
in preferred stock, and will automatically convert into common
stock in February 2003. Through August 25, 1998, the conversion
price will be $10.00 per share. Thereafter, the conversion
price floats with the price of Ramtron common stock, less
a discount that increases through May 25, 1999. The company has
the option to redeem conversions of the preferred stock for cash
rather than issuing common stock if the conversion price is
below a minimum price per share that is re-established on a
monthly basis by the company. The preferred stock investors
have agreed to monthly limits on the percentage of their position
that may be converted to common stock, daily limits on the amount
of common stock that may be sold into the market, and firm
restrictions against any direct or indirect short sales, swaps,
purchasing of puts, or other hedging activities.
''In combination with our manufacturing expansion at Rohm,
IBM and Siemens, this funding provides the working capital
needed to grow our FRAM and EDRAM product sales beginning
in the second half of this year,'' said L. David Sikes,
Ramtron's chairman and CEO. ''In addition, Ramtron
will benefit from the structure of this placement, which provides for
preferred stock conversions to be based on the future market
price of our common stock.''
Ramtron is the leading developer of ferroelectric random
access memory (FRAM) products -- new high-performance
nonvolatile memories that merge the benefits of many mainstream
memory technologies into a single device. The company also
develops and markets ultra-high performance EDRAM memory
products through its wholly owned subsidiary, Enhanced
Memory Systems, Inc. Ramtron holds 110 international and
U.S. patents covering its proprietary technologies and products,
and has more than 97 additional patent applications filed.
Except for historical information, the statements proceeding
are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.
Investors are cautioned that such statements are only predictions
and the actual events or results may differ materially. These
forward-looking statements speak only as of this date. The
company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the results of
any revisions to the forward-looking statements made today
to reflect events or circumstances after today, or to reflect the
occurrence of unanticipated events.
For additional information regarding Ramtron, contact
Communications Department, 1850 Ramtron Drive,
Colorado Springs, Colo. USA, 80921. Telephone
800/545-DRAM (3726); fax 719/488-9095;
e-mail info@ramtron.com; Web page
ramtron.com.
''FRAM'' is a registered trademark of Ramtron International Corp.
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