Solid proposition
Sauces in the underground taco bars of downtown Sunnyvale have been whispering that the long anticipated attempt by PC component maker OCZ to list itself on the NASDAQ is now underway. There's nothing like a fresh taco to get the tongue wagging and it looks like some industry insiders have been overheard discussing this development.
It seems that OCZ's pitch to would-be investors centres around its SSD (solid state drive) offering, and its insistence that OCZ would sell loads more of them if only it had a bit more cash to buy stock with. Apparently OCZ is currently unable to fulfill demand for its SSDs but, strangely, its memory and PSU offerings barely get a mention.
OCZ is hoping to raise several million dollars in new investment by offering preferred stock. It also hopes to achieve the 300 shareholder threshold required before a company can be listed on the NASDAQ and will further sweeten the deal by offering share price protection for 60 days after the anticipated NASDAQ listing date of 1 January 2010.
The Sunnyvale, California based company had previously floated itself on London's AIM (alternative investment market) in 2006. However, it delisted itself a couple of years later, muttering about how hard it was to raise capital on the AIM and opining that things might be easier in US markets.
We don't know why it took OCZ so long to make its NASDAQ move, but the global recession can't have helped. Additionally, the rapidly reducing cost of flash storage means we may be on the cusp of mainstream adoption of SSDs, over the the still cheaper incumbent mechanical hard drives (HDDs).
