Auddia, the company behind the streaming radio and podcast listening app Faidr, is making a move to quickly ramp up its content and technology with a $15 million deal to buy the streaming radio and podcast app RadioFM. It comes as Auddia fights to remain listed on Nasdaq. Its board has approved a reverse stock split at the ratio of 1-for-25. That means for every 25 shares an investor owns, it will soon hold one. It would decrease its share total from 20.47 million pre-split shares to approximately 818,000 post-split shares. The result is Auddia’s stock, which is currently trading at $0.16 per share, would be worth more than $4 per share, well above the one dollar minimum required by the stock exchange.
Nasdaq put Auddia on notice last April, warning that it could be kicked off the exchange for failing to comply with the one dollar per-share minimum. The company got six months to comply, but when the stock price continued to sit below the dollar threshold, Nasdaq said in October it was not giving the company any more time to regain compliance and it planned to move forward with the delisting. Auddia challenged the decision, and that has allowed its shares to remain on Nasdaq while the appeal was being considered.
On Dec. 29, 2023, the company’s stockholders approved the reserve stock split, which is set to become effective Feb. 26. “The company believes that affecting the reverse stock split will assist in its efforts to meet the Nasdaq continued listing standards and to continue to have its common stock remain listed and traded on Nasdaq,” it said in a statement.
The boost in share price will help, but Auddia still has another issue to contend with. In November, it received a second written notice from Nasdaq saying it failed to comply with another of the stock exchange’s rules requiring a company to maintain a minimum of $2,500,000 in stockholders’ equity after it ended third quarter with total equity of just over $2.4 million. Nasdaq again threatened a delisting, and Auddia again filed an appeal, saying it intended to take all reasonable steps to regain compliance and remain listed on Nasdaq.
Auddia Buys RadioFM App
Even as it works out its problems on Wall Street, management continue to press forward on their plans for Auddia. Inside Radio has learned the company has struck a $13 million deal to buy the RadioFM app from Indiana software developer AppSmartz. Under the terms of the deal, the price may go up an additional $2 million if certain milestones related to worldwide user numbers are reached. Auddia is currently conducting its due diligence and the acquisition is expected to close by May 1.
“If this proposed acquisition is successfully closed,” said Jeff Thramann, Executive Chairman of Auddia, “we would secure not only a healthy, revenue generating and positive cash flow business but also a talented engineering team, a robust backend system that would allow us to offer more differentiation in our audio Superapp, and potential future pathways to increase revenue through user monetization, including both ad integrations and subscription.”
Auddia announced it was in discussions with several acquisition targets last June, but did not identify them. But based on comments Thramann said at the time, it is now clear RadioFM was one of them.
Like what Auddia is building with Faidr, the ten-year old RadioFM app features online radio stations and podcasts. AppSmartz says RadioFM currently has more than 50 million active listeners around the world, with more than 45,000 station streams available – including many from the U.S. “The persistence of our efforts has helped us to win the trust of over 30 thousand broadcasters that are currently available on our platform to grow exponentially with us,” its website boasts.
Faidr launched its service last year using AI technology to deliver ad-free, subscription-based listening of AM/FM radio streams. It has also expanded that capability to deliver ad-free podcasts.
Shares of “AUUD” tumbled 21% Friday to close at 16 cents a share.
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