PixTech Announces Private Stock Placement

In a move to raise operating capital, field-emission display developer PixTech Inc. is negotiating with certain institutional investors for the sale of preferred company stock worth up to $10 million. These shared would be convertible into PixTech common stock six months after the closing of the financing at a conversion price generally equal to the lesser of the price paid by the new investors for the preferred stock or the market price of the common stock at the time of the conversion. PixTech expects to close this financing before the end of this year.

Without the proposed financing, the company would be unable to continue its current operations much beyond the end of the year. Generally, companies are required to obtain shareholder approval prior to the issuance of the preferred stock on terms described above, but Nasdaq has granted PixTech an exception based on extenuating circumstances.

The company is focusing on the commercialization of field-emission displays, which are based on arrays of micromachined photocathodes, each of which acts as a pixel. The technology suffers none of the brightness and viewing angle limitations of liquid-crystal displays, but the volume and large-screen manufacturing has been challenging. PixTech plans to demonstrate a 15-in. color display before the end of 1998.