Ault Alliance, Inc. - Annual Report: 2017 (Form 10-K)

PART I

 

ITEM 1.

BUSINESS

 

General

 

We are a growth company seeking to increase our revenues through acquisitions.  Our strategy reflects our management and Board’s current philosophy which we began implementing upon the change in control that was completed in September 2016. Our acquisition and development target strategy include companies that have developed a “new way of doing business” in mature, well-developed industries experiencing changes due to new technology; companies that may become profitable or more profitable through efficiency and reduction of costs; companies whose business is related to our core business in the commercial and defense industries; and companies that will enhance our overall revenues.  It is our goal to substantially increase our gross revenues in the near future.

 

Originally, we were primarily a solution-driven organization that designed, developed, manufactured and sold high-grade customized and flexible power system solutions for the medical, military, telecom and industrial markets.  Although we are actively seeking growth through acquisitions, we will continue to focus on high-grade and custom product designs for the commercial, medical and military/defense markets, where customers demand high density, high efficiency and ruggedized products to meet the harshest and/or military mission critical operating conditions.

 

We have operations located in Europe through our wholly-owned subsidiary, Digital Power Limited (“DP Limited”), Salisbury, England, which operates under the brand name of “Gresham Power Electronics” (“Gresham”). DP Limited designs, manufactures and sells power products and system solutions mainly for the European marketplace, including power conversion, power distribution equipment, DC/AC (Direct Current/Active Current) inverters and UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) products. Our European defense business is specialized in the field of naval power distribution products.

 

 

On November 30, 2016, DPW Holdings formed Digital Power Lending, LLC (“DP Lending”), a wholly-owned subsidiary. DP Lending is engaged in providing commercial loans to companies throughout the United States to provide them with operating capital to finance the growth of their businesses.  The loans will range in duration from six months to three years, DP Lending operates under California Finance Lending License #60DBO-77905.

 

 

Recent Events

 

 

The Reincorporation was consummated on December 29, 2017 pursuant to the Merger Agreement, whereby Digital Power Corporation merged with and into the Company with the Company as the surviving corporation operating as DPW Holdings, Inc. Following the Merger, the Company’s corporate existence is governed by the laws of the State of Delaware.

 

Upon consummation of the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement and resulting Reincorporation, the daily business operations of the Company continued as they were conducted by Digital Power Corporation immediately prior to the Reincorporation and the officers and directors of Digital Power Corporation became the officers and directors of the Company, except that Milton C. Ault III become the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Amos Kohn remained as its President.

 

 

Strategy

 

Our strategy to increase revenues through acquisitions was developed after a review of our current business. While we continue to maintain our core business of power system solutions for the military/aerospace, medical and industrial-telecommunication industries, we have determined that significant organic growth in these industries will be challenging due to our limited releases of new products offerings, insufficient sales and marketing force as a result of deferring research and development of new products because of limited working capital, and lack of financial size in industries traditionally dominated by more large, well established and capitalized power system solution companies.

 

Therefore, we believe that the best strategy for us and our shareholders is to invest in our core business to support releases of advanced new power technologies and to expand our customer base and market share in our major markets. To support the organic growth, we have hired a number of additional personnel and are investing to enhance our product offerings with state of the art technology. While we implement our new organic growth strategy, we are focusing on finding and acquiring companies that have developed new technology but have been unable to exploit the technology because the lack of capital; companies that are run inefficiently due to the lack of experience or mismanagement; companies that can benefit from our expertise in the commercial and defense industries or companies that enhance our overall revenues. Further, as discussed below, we have made a recent investment in Avalanche International, Corp. which acquired the rights to a cost effective and environmentally friendly material synthesis technology for textile applications.

 

As a result of this strategy of revenue growth through acquisitions, we have hired a number of additional personnel and consultants to assist in identifying, analyzing, negotiating and acquiring potential companies and we will need to raise a substantial amount of capital for acquisitions and for supporting our infrastructure. We may invest in and continue to invest in companies that may experience losses until they can be integrated with our operations or until our cost reduction and efficiency changes can be implemented. Because of our increase in infrastructure expenses and investing in companies that demonstrate revenue potential but are initially incurring losses, we anticipate continuing to experience losses in the near future until revenues from these acquisitions exceed our expenses.

 

 

Core Business – Power Systems Solutions

 

We provide the highest density, highest efficiency and high-grade flexibility power supply products and systems. We provide full custom, standard and modify-standard product solutions and value-added services to diverse industries and markets including military/aerospace, medical and industrial- telecommunications.  We believe that our solutions leverage a combination of low leakage power emissions, very high-power density with superior power efficiency, flexible design leveraging customize firmware and short time to market.

 

Our strategy is to be the supplier of choice to companies, including OEMs, that require high-quality power system solutions where custom design, superior product, high quality, time to market and very competitive prices are critical to business success. We believe that we provide advanced custom product design services to deliver high-grade products that reach a high level of efficiency and density and can meet rigorous environmental requirements. Our customers benefit from a direct relationship with us that supports all of their needs for designing and manufacturing power solutions and products. By implementing our advanced core technology, including process implementation in integrated circuits, we can provide cost reductions to our customers by replacing their existing power sources with our custom design cost-effective products. Our target market segments include the industrial telecommunication, medical, and military/aerospace industries.

 

 

 

 

  

Markets

 

We sell our custom power system solutions, high-grade flexibility series power supply products and value-added services to customers in a diverse range of commercial and defense industries and markets throughout the world, with an emphasis on North America and Europe. Our current customer base consists of approximately 220 companies, some of which are served through our partner channels. We serve the North American power electronics market primarily through our domestic wholly owned subsidiary Digital Power Corporation, whereas the European marketplace is served through DPL, another wholly-owned subsidiary.

 

 

We sell products to our OEM customers through direct sales or through our sales channels, including our manufacturers’ representatives and distributors.  Our sales strategy is to identify and focus on strategic accounts. This strategy allows us to maintain a close and direct relationship with such accounts, which positions us as the supplier of choice for these customers’ challenging, innovative and demanding new product requirements.  In striving for additional market share, we simultaneously seek to strengthen our traditional sales channels of manufacturer representatives and distributors. We plan to continue to build more channels and increase our market share through 2018.

 

 

 

At the core of every military electronic system is a power supply. Mission critical systems require rugged high performance power platforms that will operate and survive the harsh environmental conditions placed upon such systems. Our power supplies, which include the following, function effectively in these severe military environments, including Missiles – Ground-to-Air, Air-to-Air and Sea-to-Air; Naval – Naval power conversion and distribution; Mobile and Ground Communications – Active Protection, Communications and Navigation; Artillery – Gyro modular azimuth position and navigation system; Surveillance, test equipment; and UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) – Very lightweight power systems.

 

Our military products meet the relevant defense standards MIL-STD in accordance with the Defense Standardization Program Policies and Procedures. Space, weight, output power, electromagnetic compatibility, power density and multiple output requirements are only part of the challenges that any military power supply design faces. With many decades of experience, our engineering teams meet these tough challenges. Our power supplies are a critical component of many major weapon systems worldwide.

 

Our wholly-owned subsidiary DPL develops and manufactures some military and defense products mainly being deployed in international naval fleets.

 

Digital Power Limited (Gresham Power Electronics)

 

 

 

Microphase Corporation

Microphase’s advanced technology products enable the ultra-sensitive detection and high precision video amplification that are necessary in order to accurately recover the signals and facilitate use of the information received. These products include:

·	filters that sort and clarify microwave signals, including multiplexers that are a series of filters combined in a single package;

·	solid state amplifiers that amplify microwave signals;

·	detectors and limiters that are semiconductor devices for detection of radar signals and protection of receivers from damage from high power signals and jamming;

·	detector log video amplifiers that are fully integrated, ruggedized, “mil-spec” signal detection systems;

·	integrated assemblies that combine multiple functions from a range of components and devices, including transmitters, receivers, filters, amplifiers, detectors, and other functionality into single, efficient, high performance, multifunction assemblies;

·	electronic test and measurement probes;

·	universal test and measurement test platforms and fixtures; and

·	utility probes and antenna probes.

Manufacturing and Testing

 

Consistent with our strategy of focusing on custom design products and high-grade flexibility series products, we aim to maintain a high degree of flexibility in our manufacturing through the use of strategically focused contract manufacturers. We select contract manufacturers to ensure that they will meet our near-term cost, delivery, and quality goals. In addition, we believe these relationships will eventually give us access to new markets and beneficial cross-licensing opportunities. The competitive nature of the power supply industry has placed continual downward pressure on selling prices. In order to achieve our low-cost manufacturing goals with labor-intensive products, we have entered into manufacturing agreements with certain contract manufacturers domestically and in Asia.

 

We are continually improving our internal processes, while monitoring the processes of our contract manufacturers, to ensure the highest quality and consistent manufacturing of our power solutions. We test all of our products under stress operating conditions per defined test procedures we developed as part of the production process. This approach ensures that our customers can use our power supplies right out of the box. Customer specific testing services are offered with custom designed test stands to simulate operation within our customer applications.

 

Compliance with international safety agency standards is critical in every application, and power solutions play a major role in meeting these compliance requirements. Our safety engineers and quality assurance teams help ensure that our custom products are designed to meet all safety requirements and are appropriately documented to expedite safety approval processes.

 

Regulatory Requirements

 

 

 

Some of our products are subject to ITAR regulation and restrictions, which is administered by the U.S. Department of State. ITAR controls not only the export of certain products specifically designed, modified, configured or adapted for military systems, but also the export of related technical data and defense services and foreign production. We obtain required export licenses for any exports subject to ITAR. Compliance with ITAR may require a prolonged period of time; if the process of obtaining required export licenses for products subject to ITAR is delayed, it could have a materially adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results. Further, additional restrictions or charges may in the future be imposed by the United States or any other foreign country. In addition, from time to time, we enter into defense contracts to supply technology and products to foreign countries for programs that are funded and governed by the e U.S. Foreign Military Financing program.

 

Sales and Marketing

 

We market our products directly through our internal sales force as well as through our channel partners including independent manufacturer representatives and distributors.  Each manufacturing representative promotes our products in a particular assigned geographic territory.  Generally, the manufacturing representatives have the opportunity to earn exclusive access to all potential customers in the assigned territory as a result of achieving their marketing and sales goals as defined in the representative agreement. Our manufacturer representative agreements provide for a commission equal to 5% of gross sales of new “design-in” and 1.75% to 2.0% of gross sales for retention, payable after products are shipped to the customer in the assigned territory. Typically, either we or the manufacturing representatives are entitled to terminate the manufacturing representative agreement upon 30 days’ written notice.

 

 

Engineering and Technology

 

Our engineering and product development efforts are primarily directed toward developing new products in connection with custom product design and modification of our standard power systems to provide a broad array of individual models.

 

Our new custom product solutions are driven by our ability to provide to our customers advanced technology that meets their product needs and supports special operation and environmental requirements, with a short turnaround time and a very competitive price point. We believe that we are successfully executing our strategic account focus, as evidenced by the award of second and third generation product development contracts from some of these customers. Our standard contract for custom power solutions includes a multi-year high-volume production forecast that could allow us to secure long-term production guarantees while providing an environment that promotes the development of our IP portfolio.

 

 

 

Competition

 

The power system solutions industry is highly fragmented and characterized by intense competition. Our competition includes hundreds of companies located throughout the world, some of which have advantages over us in terms of labor and component costs, and some of which may offer products superior or comparable in quality to ours. Many of our competitors, including Bel Fuse, Artesyn Embedded Technologies, TDK-Lambda, Delta Electronics, Murata and Mean-Well Power Supplies, have substantially greater fiscal and marketing resources and geographic presence than we do. If we are successful in increasing our revenues, competitors may notice and increase competition efforts with our customers. We also face competition from current and prospective customers who may decide to internally design and manufacture power supplies needed for their products.  Furthermore, certain larger OEMs tend to contract only with larger power supply manufacturers.

 

We anticipate in the current economic situation, that additional competitors may enter into strategic alliances or even acquisitions. Competition could thus become more problematic if consolidation trends in the electronics industry continue and some of the OEMs to which we sell our products are acquired by larger OEMs. To remain competitive, we must continue to compete favorably on the basis of value by providing reliable manufacturing, offering customer-driven engineering services including custom design and manufacturing, continuously improving quality and reliability levels, and offering flexible and reliable delivery schedules.

 

We believe that our power system solutions and advanced technology is superior to our competitors’ power supplies mainly because they use the latest power technology processing and controls which make these power supplies highly customized and efficient. The power-to-volume ratio, makes our power solutions more compact compared to what is offered by our competitors and is suitable in custom infrastructures to meet our customers’ requirements.

 

The markets in which Microphase operates is also highly competitive and sensitive to technological advances. Many of Microphase’s competitors are larger than it is and maintain higher levels of expenditures for research and development. Principal competitive factors in Microphase’s markets are product quality and reliability; technological capabilities; service; past performance; ability to develop and implement complex, integrated solutions; ability to meet delivery schedules; the effectiveness of third-party sales channels in international markets; and cost-effectiveness.

 

In the RF Communications market, principal competitors for filter components products include K& L Microwave, a Dover company located in Salisbury, MD; RS Microwave, a privately held company headquartered in Butler, NJ; Lorch Microwave of Salisbury, MD, a member of the Smith Group, a global technology company listed on the London Stock Exchange; and Delta Diversified Products, a private company based in Arizona.

 

In the Video amplifier segment, principal competitors for Detector Log Video Amplifier Sensor products include American Microwave Corporation, a privately held company headquartered in Frederick, MD; Akon Inc., a privately held company based in San Jose, CA; Planar Monolithics Industries, a privately held company based in Frederick, MD; L-3 Narda-Miteq, a subsidiary of L-3 Communications Inc., a publicly traded company based in New York, NY; and Signal Technology, a subsidiary of Crane Co., a publicly traded company based in Stamford, CT.

 

 

Raw Materials

 

The raw materials for power supplies principally consist of electronic components. These raw materials are available from a variety of sources, and thus we are not dependent on any one supplier.  We generally allow our subcontractors to purchase components based on orders received or forecasts to minimize our risk of unusable inventory. To the extent necessary, we may allow them to procure materials prior to orders received to obtain shorter lead times and to achieve quantity discounts following a risk assessment.  In addition, we have decided to directly procure certain long lead-time electronic components in an effort to reduce our lead-time.

 

Many raw material vendors have reduced capacities, closed production lines and, in some cases, discontinued operations. As a result, some materials are no longer available to support some of our products requiring us to search for cross materials or, in certain circumstances, redesign some of our products to conform to currently available materials.

 

Intellectual Property

We rely upon a combination of trade secrets, industry expertise, confidential procedures, and contractual provisions to protect our intellectual property. We believe that because our products are continually updated and revised, obtaining patents would be costly and not beneficial. However, in the future, as we continue to develop unique core technology, we may seek to obtain patents for some of the core technology.  On July 10, 2012, our trademark, “DP Digital Power Flexible Power” was registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

In conjunction with our majority acquisition of Microphase, we concluded that because of the industry recognition of the Microphase trademark and trade name, which has been around for nearly 60 years, the tradename and trademark represented a significant intellectual property asset.

 

Research and Development

 

During the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, we spent approximately $1,120,000 and $709,000, respectively, on research and development.

 

Employees

 

As of December 31, 2017, we had 77 employees located in the United States and the United Kingdom, of whom 29 were engaged in engineering and product development, 13 in sales and marketing, 19 in general operations and 16 in general administration and finance. All but three of these employees are employed on a full-time basis. None of our employees is currently represented by a trade union. We consider our relations with our employees to be good.

 

 

ITEM 1A.

RISK FACTORS

 

An investment in our common stock involves significant risks. You should carefully consider the following risks and all other information set forth in this Annual Report before deciding to invest in our common stock. If any of the events or developments described below occurs, our business, financial condition and results of operations may suffer. In that case, the value of our common stock may decline and you could lose all or part of your investment.

You should consider each of the following risk factors and any other information set forth in this Annual Report and the other reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including the Company’s financial statements and related notes, in evaluating the Company’s business and prospects. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones that impact on the Company’s operations and business. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to the Company, or that the Company currently considers immaterial, may also impair its business or operations. If any of the following risks actually occurs, the Company’s business and financial condition, results or prospects could be harmed. Please also read carefully the section “Forward-Looking Statements” at the beginning of this Annual Report.

We have historically incurred significant losses and our financial situation creates doubt whether we will continue as a going concern.

We have historically experienced operating and net losses and anticipate continuing to experience such losses in the future. For the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, we had an operating loss of approximately $5,983,000 and $1,219,000 and net losses of approximately $10,895,000 and $1,122,000, respectively. As of December 31, 2017, the Company had a working capital deficiency of approximately $2,498,000. There are no assurances that we will be able to achieve a level of revenues adequate to generate sufficient cash flow from operations or obtain additional financing through private placements, public offerings and/or bank financing necessary to support our working capital requirements. To the extent that funds generated from any private placements, public offerings and/or bank financing are insufficient, we will have to raise additional working capital. No assurance can be given that additional financing will be available, or if available, will be on acceptable terms. These conditions raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. If adequate working capital is not available we may be forced to discontinue operations, which would cause investors to lose their entire investment.

We expect to continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future and need to raise additional capital to continue business development initiatives and to support our working capital requirements. For example, in March 2017, we were awarded a 3-year, $50 million purchase order by MTIX Ltd. (“MTIX”) to manufacture, install and service the Multiplex Laser Surface Enhancement (“MLSE”) plasma-laser system. We believe that the MLSE purchase order will be a source of revenue and generate significant cash flows for us. However, if we are unable to raise additional capital, we may be required to curtail operations and take additional measures to reduce costs, including reducing our workforce, eliminating outside consultants and reducing legal fees in order to conserve cash in amounts sufficient to sustain operations and meet our obligations. As a result of these financing uncertainties, during the third quarter ended September 30, 2017, we recognized that our dependence on ongoing capital requirements to fund our operations raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Our ongoing capital requirements have only increased since then, meaning that substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern remains and will likely do so for the foreseeable future.

Until we are profitable, we will need to quickly raise additional capital in order to fund our operations in furtherance of our business plan. The proposed financing may include shares of common stock, shares of preferred stock, warrants to purchase shares of common stock or preferred stock, debt securities, units consisting of the foregoing securities, equity investments from strategic development partners or some combination of each. Any additional equity financings may be financially dilutive to, and will be dilutive from an ownership perspective to our stockholders, and such dilution may be significant based upon the size of such financing. Additionally, we cannot assure that such funding will be available on a timely basis, in needed quantities, or on terms favorable to us, if at all.

 

 

Our limited operating history makes it difficult to evaluate our future business prospects and to make decisions based on of our historical performance.

Although our executive officers have been engaged in the industries in which we operate for varying degrees of time, we did not begin operations of our current business until recently. We have a very limited operating history in our current form, which makes it difficult to evaluate our business on the basis of historical operations. As a consequence, it is difficult, if not impossible, to forecast our future results based upon our historical data. Reliance on our historical results may not be representative of the results we will achieve, and for certain areas in which we operate, principally those unrelated to defense contracting, will not be indicative at all. Because of the uncertainties related to our lack of historical operations, we may be hindered in our ability to anticipate and timely adapt to increases or decreases in sales, product costs or expenses. If we make poor budgetary decisions as a result of unreliable historical data, we could be less profitable or incur losses, which may result in a decline in our stock price.

We have an evolving business model, which increases the complexity of our business.

Our business model has evolved in the past and continues to do so. In prior years we have added additional types of services and product offerings and in some cases we have modified or discontinued those offerings. We intend to continue to try to offer additional types of products or services, and we do not know whether any of them will be successful. From time to time we have also modified aspects of our business model relating to our product mix. We do not know whether these or any other modifications will be successful. The additions and modifications to our business have increased the complexity of our business and placed significant strain on our management, personnel, operations, systems, technical performance, financial resources, and internal financial control and reporting functions. Future additions to or modifications of our business are likely to have similar effects. Further, any new business or website we launch that is not favorably received by the market could damage our reputation or our brand. The occurrence of any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We are a holding company whose subsidiaries are given certain degree of independence and our failure to integrate our subsidiaries may adversely affect our financial condition.

We have given our subsidiary companies and their executives a certain degree of independence in decision-making. On the one hand, this independence may increase the sense of ownership at all levels, on the other hand it has also increased the difficulty of the integration of operation and management, which has resulted in increased difficulty of management integration. In the event we are not able to successfully manage our subsidiaries this will result in operating difficulties and have a negative impact on our business.

Our independent auditors have expressed doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. If we do not continue as a going concern, investors will lose their entire investment.

In its report on our financial statements included in this Annual Report, our independent auditors have expressed doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Our ability to continue as a going concern is an issue raised as a result of ongoing operating losses and a lack of financing commitments then in place to meet expected cash requirements. Our ability to continue as a going concern is subject to our ability to generate a profit and/or obtain necessary funding from outside sources, including obtaining additional funding from the sale of our securities, increasing sales or obtaining loans and grants from various financial institutions where possible. If we do not continue as a going concern, investors will lose their entire investment.

Our growth strategy through acquisitions is fraught with risk. On June 2, 2017, we acquired a majority interest in Microphase Corp. Our strategy and business plan is dependent on our ability to successfully integrate Microphase’s and our other acquisition’s operations. In addition, while we are based in Fremont, CA, Microphase’s operations are located in Shelton, Connecticut and Digital Power Limited’s (doing business as Gresham Power) operations are located in Salisbury, England. These distant locations and others that we may become involved with in the future will stretch our resources and management time. Further, failure to quickly and adequately integrate all of these operations and personnel could adversely affect our combined business and our ability to achieve our objectives and strategy. No assurance can be given that we will realize synergies in the areas we currently operate.

 

 

If we make any additional acquisitions, they may disrupt or have a negative impact on our business.

We have plans to make additional acquisitions beyond Microphase. For instance, we announced the pending acquisition of Enertec Systems 2001 Ltd. on January 2, 2018.  Whenever we make acquisitions, we could have difficulty integrating the acquired companies’ personnel and operations with our own. In addition, the key personnel of the acquired business may not be willing to work for us. We cannot predict the effect expansion may have on our core business. Regardless of whether we are successful in making an acquisition, the negotiations could disrupt our ongoing business, distract our management and employees and increase our expenses. In addition to the risks described above, acquisitions are accompanied by a number of inherent risks, including, without limitation, the following:

·	difficulty of integrating acquired products, services or operations;

·	potential disruption of the ongoing businesses and distraction of our management and the management of acquired companies;

·	difficulty of incorporating acquired rights or products into our existing business;

·	difficulties in disposing of the excess or idle facilities of an acquired company or business and expenses in maintaining such facilities;

·	difficulties in maintaining uniform standards, controls, procedures and policies;

·	potential impairment of relationships with employees and customers as a result of any integration of new management personnel;

·	potential inability or failure to achieve additional sales and enhance our customer base through cross-marketing of the products to new and existing customers;

·	effect of any government regulations which relate to the business acquired;

·

potential unknown liabilities associated with acquired businesses or product lines, or the need to spend significant amounts to retool, reposition or modify the marketing and sales of acquired products or the defense of any litigation, whether or not successful, resulting from actions of the acquired company prior to our acquisition.

 

Our business could be severely impaired if and to the extent that we are unable to succeed in addressing any of these risks or other problems encountered in connection with these acquisitions, many of which cannot be presently identified, these risks and problems could disrupt our ongoing business, distract our management and employees, increase our expenses and adversely affect our results of operations.

 

No assurance of successful expansion of operations.

Our significant increase in the scope and the scale of our operations, including the hiring of additional personnel, has resulted in significantly higher operating expenses. We anticipate that our operating expenses will continue to increase. Expansion of our operations may also make significant demands on our management, finances and other resources. Our ability to manage the anticipated future growth, should it occur, will depend upon a significant expansion of our accounting and other internal management systems and the implementation and subsequent improvement of a variety of systems, procedures and controls. We cannot assure that significant problems in these areas will not occur. Failure to expand these areas and implement and improve such systems, procedures and controls in an efficient manner at a pace consistent with our business could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We cannot assure that attempts to expand our marketing, sales, manufacturing and customer support efforts will succeed or generate additional sales or profits in any future period. As a result of the expansion of our operations and the anticipated increase in our operating expenses, along with the difficulty in forecasting revenue levels, we expect to continue to experience significant fluctuations in its results of operations.

 

We may be unable to successfully expand our production capacity, which could result in material delays, quality issues, increased costs and loss of business opportunities, which may negatively impact our product margins and profitability.

Part of our future growth strategy is to increase our production capacity to meet increasing demand for our goods. Assuming we obtain sufficient funding to increase our production capacity, any projects to increase such capacity may not be constructed on the anticipated timetable or within budget. We may also experience quality control issues as we implement any production upgrades. Any material delay in completing these projects, or any substantial cost increases or quality issues in connection with these projects could materially delay our ability to bring our products to market and adversely affect our business, reduce our revenue, income and available cash, all of which could harm our financial condition.

 

 

If we fail to establish and maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to report our financial results accurately or prevent fraud. Any inability to report and file our financial results accurately and timely could harm our reputation and adversely impact the trading price of our common stock. 

  

A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, within the meaning of Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”) Audit Standard No. 5, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Management has identified the following material weaknesses which have caused management to conclude that as of June 30, 2017 our internal controls over financial reporting (“ICFR”) were not effective at the reasonable assurance level:

 

 

We have taken steps to remediate some of the weaknesses described above, including a greater level of involvement by our Audit Committee. We intend to continue to address these weaknesses as resources permit.

We evaluate our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of each fiscal quarter, and are annually reviewing and evaluating our internal control over financial reporting in order to comply with the Commission’s rules relating to internal control over financial reporting adopted pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. If we fail to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting or our management does not timely assess the adequacy of such internal control, we may be subject to regulatory sanctions, and our reputation may decline.

 

 

We face significant competition, including changes in pricing.

The markets for our products are both competitive and price sensitive. Many competitors have significant financial, operations, sales and marketing resources, plus experience in research and development, and compete with us by offering lower prices. Competitors could develop new technologies that compete with our products to achieve a lower unit price. If a competitor develops lower cost superior technology or cost-effective alternatives to our products and services, our business could be seriously harmed.

The markets for some of our products are also subject to specific competitive risks because these markets are highly price competitive. Our competitors have competed in the past by lowering prices on certain products. If they do so again, we may be forced to respond by lowering our prices. This would reduce sales revenues and increase losses. Failure to anticipate and respond to price competition may also impact sales and aggravate losses.

 

Many of our competitors are larger and have greater financial and other resources than we do.

Our products compete and will compete with similar if not identical products produced by our competitors. These competitive products could be marketed by well-established, successful companies that possess greater financial, marketing, distribution personnel, and other resources than we do. Using said resources, these companies can implement extensive advertising and promotional campaigns, both generally and in response to specific marketing efforts by competitors. They can introduce new products to new markets more rapidly. In certain instances, competitors with greater financial resources may be able to enter a market in direct competition with us, offering attractive marketing tools to encourage the sale of products that compete with our products or present cost features that consumers may find attractive. 

Our growth strategy through acquisitions involves a significant degree of risk. Some of the companies that we have identified as acquisition targets or make a significant investment in may not have a developed business or are experiencing inefficiencies and incur losses. Therefore, we may lose our investment in the event that these companies’ businesses do not develop as planned or that we are unable to achieve the cost efficiencies or reduction of losses as anticipated.

 

Further, in order to implement our growth plan, we have hired additional staff and consultants to review potential investments and implement our plan. As a result, we have substantially increased our infrastructure and costs. If we fail to quickly find new companies that provide revenue to offset our costs, we will continue to experience losses. No assurance can be given that our product development and investments will produce sufficient revenues to offset these increases in expenditures. 

Our business and operations are growing rapidly. If we fail to effectively manage our growth, our business and operating results could be harmed.

We have experienced, and may continue to experience, rapid growth in our operations. This has placed, and may continue to place, significant demands on our management, operational and financial infrastructure. If we do not manage our growth effectively, the quality of our products and services could suffer, which could negatively affect our operating results. To effectively manage our growth, we must continue to improve our operational, financial and management controls and reporting systems and procedures. These systems improvements may require significant capital expenditures and management resources. Failure to implement these improvements could hurt our ability to manage our growth and our financial position.

A principal stockholder has significant influence over us.

Philou Ventures, LLC (“Philou Ventures”) beneficially owns approximately 12.0% of our currently outstanding Common Stock on a fully diluted basis, as of April 13, 2018. As a result, it will be able to exert a significant degree of influence over our management and affairs and over matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors, any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of the Company’s assets, and any other significant corporate transaction. Its interests may not always coincide with those of our other stockholders.

 

 

Philou Ventures has certain rights to maintain its ownership interest in us

In connection with entering into a Series B Preferred Stock purchase agreement with Philou Ventures, we granted the right to Philou Ventures to participate in future offering under substantially the same term of such offerings in order to allow Philou Ventures to maintain its ownership interest. If exercised by Philou Ventures, this contractual right granted to it has the effect of allowing Philou Ventures to maintain its interest in us and dilute existing shareholders’ ownership interests.

We are heavily dependent on our senior management, and a loss of a member of our senior management team could cause our stock price to suffer.

If we lose the services of Milton C. Ault III, our Chief Executive Officer, William B. Horne, our Chief Financial Officer, Amos Kohn, our President and Chief Executive Officer of Coolisys, one of our principal subsidiaries and/or certain key employees, we may not be able to find appropriate replacements on a timely basis, and our business could be adversely affected. Our existing operations and continued future development depend to a significant extent upon the performance and active participation of these individuals and certain key employees. Although we have entered into employment agreements with Messrs. Horne and Kohn, we have only entered into an independent contractor agreement with Mr. Ault. Although we may enter into employment agreements with Mr. Ault and additional key employees in the future, we cannot guarantee that we will be successful in retaining the services of these individuals. If we were to lose any of these individuals, we may not be able to find appropriate replacements on a timely basis and our financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

We rely on highly skilled personnel and the continuing efforts of our executive officers and, if we are unable to retain, motivate or hire qualified personnel, our business may be severely disrupted.

Our performance largely depends on the talents, knowledge, skills, know-how and efforts of highly skilled individuals and in particular, the expertise held by our Chief Executive Officer, Milton C. Ault III. His absence, were it to occur, would materially and adversely impact development and implementation of our projects and businesses. Our future success depends on our continuing ability to identify, hire, develop, motivate and retain highly skilled personnel for all areas of our organization. Our continued ability to compete effectively depends on our ability to attract, among others, new technology developers and to retain and motivate our existing contractors. If one or more of our executive officers are unable or unwilling to continue in their present positions, we may not be able to replace them readily, if at all. Therefore, our business may be severely disrupted, and we may incur additional expenses to recruit and retain new officers. In addition, if any of our executives joins a competitor or forms a competing company, we may lose some customers.

Our operating results may vary from quarter to quarter.

Our operating results have in the past been subject to quarter-to-quarter fluctuations, and we expect that these fluctuations will continue, and may increase in magnitude, in future periods. Demand for our products is driven by many factors, including the availability of funding for our products in our customers’ capital budgets. There is a trend for some of our customers to place large orders near the end of a quarter or fiscal year, in part to spend remaining available capital budget funds. Seasonal fluctuations in customer demand for our products driven by budgetary and other concerns can create corresponding fluctuations in period-to-period revenues, and we therefore cannot assure you that our results in one period are necessarily indicative of our revenues in any future period. In addition, the number and timing of large individual sales and the ability to obtain acceptances of those sales, where applicable, have been difficult for us to predict, and large individual sales have, in some cases, occurred in quarters subsequent to those we anticipated, or have not occurred at all. The loss or deferral of one or more significant sales in a quarter could harm our operating results for such quarter. It is possible that, in some quarters, our operating results will be below the expectations of public market analysts or investors. In such events, or in the event adverse conditions prevail, the market price of our common stock may decline significantly.

We may be classified as an inadvertent investment company.

We are not engaged in the business of investing, reinvesting, or trading in securities, and we do not hold ourselves out as being engaged in those activities. Under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), however, a company may be deemed an investment company under section 3(a)(1)(C) of the 1940 Act if the value of its investment securities is more than 40% of its total assets (exclusive of government securities and cash items) on a consolidated basis.

 

 

We have commenced digital asset mining, the output of which is cryptocurrencies, which the Commission has indicated it deems a security. In the event that the digital assets held by us exceed 40% of our total assets, exclusive of cash, we inadvertently become an investment company. An inadvertent investment company can avoid being classified as an investment company if it can rely on one of the exclusions under the 1940 Act. One such exclusion, Rule 3a-2 under the 1940 Act, allows an inadvertent investment company a grace period of one year from the earlier of (a) the date on which an issuer owns securities and/or cash having a value exceeding 50% of the issuer’s total assets on either a consolidated or unconsolidated basis and (b) the date on which an issuer owns or proposes to acquire investment securities having a value exceeding 40% of the value of such issuer’s total assets (exclusive of government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. We are putting in place policies that we expect will work to keep the investment securities held by us at less than 40% of our total assets, which may include acquiring assets with our cash, liquidating our investment securities or seeking a no-action letter from the Commission if we are unable to acquire sufficient assets or liquidate sufficient investment securities in a timely manner.

As Rule 3a-2 is available to a company no more than once every three years, and assuming no other exclusion were available to us, we would have to keep within the 40% limit for at least three years after we cease being an inadvertent investment company. This may limit our ability to make certain investments or enter into joint ventures that could otherwise have a positive impact on our earnings. In any event, we do not intend to become an investment company engaged in the business of investing and trading securities.

Classification as an investment company under the 1940 Act requires registration with the Commission. If an investment company fails to register, it would have to stop doing almost all business, and its contracts would become voidable. Registration is time consuming and restrictive and would require a restructuring of our operations, and we would be very constrained in the kind of business we could do as a registered investment company. Further, we would become subject to substantial regulation concerning management, operations, transactions with affiliated persons and portfolio composition, and would need to file reports under the 1940 Act regime. The cost of such compliance would result in the Company incurring substantial additional expenses, and the failure to register if required would have a materially adverse impact to conduct our operations.

We will not be able to successfully execute our business strategy if we are deemed to be an investment company under the 1940 Act.

U.S. companies that have more than 100 shareholders or are publicly traded in the U.S. and are, or hold themselves out as being, engaged primarily in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities are subject to regulation under the 1940 Act.  Unless a substantial part of our assets consists of, and a substantial part of our income is derived from, interests in majority-owned subsidiaries and companies that we primarily control, we may be required to register and become subject to regulation under the 1940 Act.  If bitcoin and other virtual currencies were to be deemed securities for purposes of the 1940 Act, or if we were deemed to own but not operate one or more of our other subsidiaries, we would have difficulty avoiding classification and regulation as an investment company.

If we were deemed to be, and were required to register as, an investment company, we would be forced to comply with substantive requirements under the 1940 Act, including limitations on our ability to borrow, limitations on our capital structure; restrictions on acquisitions of interests in associated companies, prohibitions on transactions with affiliates, restrictions on specific investments, and compliance with reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy disclosure and other rules and regulations.  If we were forced to comply with the rules and regulations of the 1940 Act, our operations would significantly change, and we would be prevented from successfully executing our business strategy.  To avoid regulation under the 1940 Act and related rules promulgated by the Commission, we could need to sell bitcoin and other assets which we would otherwise want to retain and could be unable to sell assets which we would otherwise want to sell.  In addition, we could be forced to acquire additional, or retain existing, income-generating or loss-generating assets which we would not otherwise have acquired or retained and could need to forgo opportunities to acquire bitcoin and other assets that would benefit our business.  If we were forced to sell, buy or retain assets in this manner, we could be prevented from successfully executing our business strategy.

 

 

Securitization of our assets subjects us to various risks.

We may securitize assets to generate cash for funding new investments. We refer to the term securitize to describe a form of leverage under which a company (sometimes referred to as an “originator” or “sponsor”) transfers income producing assets to a single-purpose, bankruptcy-remote subsidiary (also referred to as a “special purpose entity” or SPE), which is established solely for the purpose of holding such assets and entering into a structured finance transaction. The SPE would then issue notes secured by such assets. The special purpose entity may issue the notes in the capital markets either publicly or privately to a variety of investors, including banks, non-bank financial institutions and other investors. There may be a single class of notes or multiple classes of notes, the most senior of which carries less credit risk and the most junior of which may carry substantially the same credit risk as the equity of the SPE.

An important aspect of most debt securitization transactions is that the sale and/or contribution of assets into the SPE be considered a true sale and/or contribution for accounting purposes and that a reviewing court would not consolidate the SPE with the operations of the originator in the event of the originator's bankruptcy based on equitable principles. Viewed as a whole, a debt securitization seeks to lower risk to the note purchasers by isolating the assets collateralizing the securitization in an SPE that is not subject to the credit and bankruptcy risks of the originator. As a result of this perceived reduction of risk, debt securitization transactions frequently achieve lower overall leverage costs for originators as compared to traditional secured lending transactions.

In accordance with the above description, to securitize loans, we may create a wholly owned subsidiary and contribute a pool of our assets to such subsidiary. The SPE may be funded with, among other things, whole loans or interests from other pools and such loans may or may not be rated. The SPE would then sell its notes to purchasers whom we would expect to be willing to accept a lower interest rate and the absence of any recourse against us to invest in a pool of income producing assets to which none of our creditors would have access. We would retain all or a portion of the equity in the SPE. An inability to successfully securitize portions of our portfolio or otherwise leverage our portfolio through secured and unsecured borrowings could limit our ability to grow our business and fully execute our business strategy, and could decrease our earnings, if any. However, the successful securitization of portions of our portfolio exposes us to a risk of loss for the equity we retain in the SPE and might expose us to greater risk on our remaining portfolio because the assets we retain may tend to be those that are riskier and more likely to generate losses. A successful securitization may also impose financial and operating covenants that restrict our business activities and may include limitations that could hinder our ability to finance additional loans and investments. The 1940 Act may also impose restrictions on the structure of any securitizations.

Interests we hold in the SPE, if any, will be subordinated to the other interests issued by the SPE. As such, we will only receive cash distributions on such interests if the SPE has made all cash interest and other required payments on all other interests it has issued. In addition, our subordinated interests will likely be unsecured and rank behind all of the secured creditors, known or unknown, of the SPE, including the holders of the senior interests it has issued. Consequently, to the extent that the value of the SPE's portfolio of assets has been reduced as a result of conditions in the credit markets, or as a result of defaults, the value of the subordinated interests we retain would be reduced. Securitization imposes on us the same risks as borrowing except that our risk in a securitization is limited to the amount of subordinated interests we retain, whereas in a borrowing or debt issuance by us directly we would be at risk for the entire amount of the borrowing or debt issuance.

We may also engage in transactions utilizing SPEs and securitization techniques where the assets sold or contributed to the SPE remain on our balance sheet for accounting purposes. If, for example, we sell the assets to the SPE with recourse or provide a guarantee or other credit support to the SPE, its assets will remain on our balance sheet. Consolidation would also generally result if we, in consultation with the SEC, determine that consolidation would result in a more accurate reflection of our assets, liabilities and results of operations. In these structures, the risks will be essentially the same as in other securitization transactions but the assets will remain our assets for purposes of the limitations described above on investing in assets that are not qualifying assets and the leverage incurred by the SPE will be treated as borrowings incurred by us for purposes of our limitation on the issuance of senior securities.

We may not be able to utilize our net operating loss carry forwards.

    

At December 31, 2017, we had net operating loss carry forwards (“NOLs”) for income tax purposes of approximately $12.0 million, expiring through 2037, However, we do not know if or when we will have any earnings and capital gains against which we could apply these carry forwards.  Furthermore, as a result of changes in the ownership of our common stock, our ability to use our federal NOLs will be limited under Internal Revenue Code Section 382.  State NOLs are subject to similar limitations in many cases.  As a result, our substantial NOLs may not have any value to us.

    

 

Changes in the U.S. tax and other laws and regulations may adversely affect our business.

The U.S. government may revise tax laws, regulations or official interpretations in ways that could have a significant adverse effect on our business, including modifications that could reduce the profits that we can effectively realize from our international operations, or that could require costly changes to those operations, or the way in which they are structured.  For example, the effective tax rates for most U.S. companies reflect the fact that income earned and reinvested outside the U.S. is generally taxed at local rates, which may be much lower than U.S. tax rates.  If we expand abroad and there are changes in tax laws, regulations or interpretations that significantly increase the tax rates on non-U.S. income, our effective tax rate could increase and our profits could be reduced.  If such increases resulted from our status as a U.S. company, those changes could place us at a disadvantage to our non-U.S. competitors if those competitors remain subject to lower local tax rates.

Recently enacted U.S. tax reform legislation known colloquially as the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” among other things, makes significant changes to the rules applicable to the taxation of corporations, such as changing the corporate tax rate to a flat 21% rate, modifying the rules regarding limitations on certain deductions for executive compensation, introducing a capital investment deduction in certain circumstances, placing certain limitations on the interest deduction, modifying the rules regarding the usability of certain net operating losses, implementing a minimum tax on the “global intangible low-taxed income” of a “United States shareholder” of a “controlled foreign corporation,” modifying certain rules applicable to United States shareholders of controlled foreign corporations, imposing a deemed repatriation tax on certain earnings and adding certain anti-base erosion rules.  We are currently in the process of analyzing the effects of this new legislation on us and at this time the ultimate outcome of the new legislation on our business and financial condition is uncertain.  It is possible that the application of these new rules may have a material and adverse impact on our operating results, cash flows and financial condition.

Technology changes rapidly in our business, and if we fail to anticipate new technologies, the quality, timeliness and competitiveness of our products will suffer.

Rapid technology changes in our industry require us to anticipate, sometimes years in advance, which technologies and/or distribution platforms our products must take advantage of in order to make them competitive in the market at the time they are released. Therefore, we usually start our product development with a range of technical development goals that we hope to be able to achieve. We may not be able to achieve these goals, or our competition may be able to achieve them more quickly than we can. In either case, our products may be technologically inferior to competitive products, or less appealing to consumers, or both. If we cannot achieve our technology goals within the original development schedule of our products, then we may delay products until these technology goals can be achieved, which may delay or reduce revenue and increase our development expenses. Alternatively, we may increase the resources employed in research and development in an attempt to accelerate our development of new technologies, either to preserve our product launch schedule or to keep up with our competition, which would increase our development expenses and adversely affect our operations and financial condition.

We are dependent upon our ability, and our contract manufacturers’ ability, to timely procure electronic components.

Because of the global economy, many raw material vendors have reduced capacities, closed production lines and, in some cases, even discontinued their operations. As a result, there is a global shortage of certain electronic or mineral components, which may extend our production lead-time and our production costs. Some materials are no longer available to support some of our products, thereby requiring us to search for cross materials or, even worse, redesign some of our products to support currently-available materials. Such redesign efforts may require certain regulatory and safety agency re-submittals, which may cause further production delays. While we have initiated actions that we believe will limit our exposure to such problems, the dynamic business conditions in many of our markets may challenge the solutions that have been put in place, and issues may recur in the future.

 

 

In addition, some of our products are manufactured, assembled and tested by third party subcontractors and contract manufacturers located in Asia. While we have had relationships with many of these third parties in the past, we cannot predict how or whether these relationships will continue in the future. In addition, changes in management, financial viability, manufacturing demand or capacity, or other factors, at these third parties could hurt our ability to manufacture our products.

 

Our strategic focus on our custom power supply solution competencies and concurrent cost reduction plans may be ineffective or may limit our ability to compete.

As a result of our strategic focus on custom power supply solutions, we will continue to devote significant resources to developing and manufacturing custom power supply solutions for a large number of customers, where each product represents a uniquely tailored solution for a specific customer’s requirements. Failure to meet these customer product requirements or a failure to meet production schedules and/or product quality standards may put us at risk with one or more of these customers. Moreover, changes in market conditions and strategic changes at the direction of our customers may affect their decision to continue to purchase from us. The loss of one or more of our significant custom power supply solution customers could have a material adverse impact on our revenues, business or financial condition.

 

We have also implemented a series of initiatives designed to increase efficiency and reduce costs. While we believe that these actions will reduce costs, they may not be sufficient to achieve the required operational efficiencies that will enable us to respond more quickly to changes in the market or result in the improvements in our business that we anticipate. In such event, we may be forced to take additional cost-reducing initiatives, including those involving our personnel, which may negatively impact quarterly earnings and profitability as we account for severance and other related costs. In addition, there is the risk that such measures could have long-term adverse effects on our business by reducing our pool of talent, decreasing or slowing improvements in our products or services, making it more difficult for us to respond to customers, limiting our ability to increase production quickly if and when the demand for our solutions increases and limiting our ability to hire and retain key personnel. These circumstances could cause our earnings to be lower than they otherwise might be.

We depend upon a few major customers for a majority of our revenues, and the loss of any of these customers, or the substantial reduction in the quantity of products that they purchase from us, would significantly reduce our revenues and net income.

We currently depend upon a few major OEMs and other customers for a significant portion of our revenues. If our major OEM customers will reduce or cancel their orders scaling back some of their activities, our revenues and net income would be significantly reduced. Furthermore, diversions in the capital spending of certain of these customers to new network elements have and could continue to lead to their reduced demand for our products, which could, in turn, have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. If the financial condition of one or more of our major customers should deteriorate, or if they have difficulty acquiring investment capital due to any of these or other factors, a substantial decrease in our revenues would likely result. We are dependent on the electronic equipment industry, and accordingly will be affected by the impact on that industry of current economic conditions.

 

Substantially all of our existing customers are in the electronic equipment industry, and they manufacture products that are subject to rapid technological change, obsolescence, and large fluctuations in demand. This industry is further characterized by intense competition and volatility. The OEMs serving this industry are pressured for increased product performance and lower product prices. OEMs, in turn, make similar demands on their suppliers, such as us, for increased product performance and lower prices. Such demands may adversely affect our ability to successfully compete in certain markets or our ability to sustain our gross margins.

 

Our reliance on subcontract manufacturers to manufacture certain aspects of our products involves risks, including delays in product shipments and reduced control over product quality.

Since we do not own significant manufacturing facilities, we must rely on, and will continue to rely on, a limited number of subcontract manufacturers to manufacture our power supply products. Our reliance upon such subcontract manufacturers involves several risks, including reduced control over manufacturing costs, delivery times, reliability and quality of components, unfavorable currency exchange fluctuations, and continued inflationary pressures on many of the raw materials used in the manufacturing of our power supply products. If we were to encounter a shortage of key manufacturing components from limited sources of supply, or experience manufacturing delays caused by reduced manufacturing capacity, inability of our subcontract manufacturers to procure raw materials, the loss of key assembly subcontractors, difficulties associated with the transition to our new subcontract manufacturers or other factors, we could experience lost revenues, increased costs, and delays in, or cancellations or rescheduling of, orders or shipments, any of which would materially harm our business.

 

 

We outsource, and are dependent upon developer partners for, the development of some of our custom design products.

We made an operational decision to outsource some of our custom design products to numerous developer partners. This business structure will remain in place until the custom design volume justifies expanding our in house capabilities. Incomplete product designs that do not fully comply with the customer specifications and requirements might affect our ability to transition to a volume production stage of the custom designed product where the revenue goals are dependent on the high volume of custom product production. Furthermore, we rely on the design partners’ ability to provide high quality prototypes of the designed product for our customer approval as a critical stage to approve production.

We face intense industry competition, price erosion and product obsolescence, which, in turn, could reduce our profitability.

We operate in an industry that is generally characterized by intense competition. We believe that the principal bases of competition in our markets are breadth of product line, quality of products, stability, reliability and reputation of the provider, along with cost. Quantity discounts, price erosion, and rapid product obsolescence due to technological improvements are therefore common in our industry as competitors strive to retain or expand market share. Product obsolescence can lead to increases in unsaleable inventory that may need to be written off and, therefore, could reduce our profitability. Similarly, price erosion can reduce our profitability by decreasing our revenues and our gross margins. In fact, we have seen price erosion over the last several years on most of the products we sell, and we expect additional price erosion in the future.

 

Our future results are dependent on our ability to establish, maintain and expand our manufacturers’ representative OEM relationships and our other relationships.

We market and sell our products through domestic and international OEM relationships and other distribution channels, such as manufacturers’ representatives and distributors. Our future results are dependent on our ability to establish, maintain and expand our relationships with OEMs as well as with manufacturers’ representatives and distributors to sell our products. If, however, the third parties with whom we have entered into such OEM and other arrangements should fail to meet their contractual obligations, cease doing, or reduce the amount of their, business with us or otherwise fail to meet their own performance objectives, customer demand for our products could be adversely affected, which would have an adverse effect on our revenues.

 

We may not be able to procure necessary key components for our products, or we may purchase too much inventory or the wrong inventory.

The power supply industry, and the electronics industry as a whole, can be subject to business cycles. During periods of growth and high demand for our products, we may not have adequate supplies of inventory on hand to satisfy our customers' needs. Furthermore, during these periods of growth, our suppliers may also experience high demand and, therefore, may not have adequate levels of the components and other materials that we require to build products so that we can meet our customers' needs. Our inability to secure sufficient components to build products for our customers could negatively impact our sales and operating results. We may choose to mitigate this risk by increasing the levels of inventory for certain key components. Increased inventory levels can increase the potential risk for excess and obsolescence should our forecasts fail to materialize or if there are negative factors impacting our customers’ end markets. If we purchase too much inventory or the wrong inventory, we may have to record additional inventory reserves or write-off the inventory, which could have a material adverse effect on our gross margins and on our results of operations.

 

 

Although we depend on sales of our legacy products for a meaningful portion of our revenues, these products are mature and their sales will decline.

A relatively large portion of our sales have historically been attributable to our legacy products. We expect that these products may continue to account for a meaningful percentage of our revenues for the foreseeable future. However, these sales are declining. Although we are unable to predict future prices for our legacy products, we expect that prices for these products will continue to be subject to significant downward pressure in certain markets for the reasons described above. Accordingly, our ability to maintain or increase revenues will be dependent on our ability to expand our customer base, to increase unit sales volumes of these products and to successfully, develop, introduce and sell new products such as custom design and value added products. We cannot assure you that we will be able to expand our customer base, increase unit sales volumes of existing products or develop, introduce and/or sell new products.

Failure of our information technology infrastructure to operate effectively could adversely affect our business.

We depend heavily on information technology infrastructure to achieve our business objectives. If a problem occurs that impairs this infrastructure, the resulting disruption could impede our ability to record or process orders, manufacture and ship in a timely manner, or otherwise carry on business in the normal course. Any such events could cause us to lose customers or revenue and could require us to incur significant expense to remediate.

 

We are subject to certain governmental regulatory restrictions relating to our international sales.

Some of our products are subject to International Traffic In Arms Regulation (“ITAR”), which are interpreted, enforced and administered by the U.S. Department of State. ITAR regulation controls not only the export, import and trade of certain products specifically designed, modified, configured or adapted for military systems, but also the export of related technical data and defense services as well as foreign production. Any delays in obtaining the required export, import or trade licenses for products subject to ITAR regulation and rules could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and/or operating results. In addition, changes in United States export and import laws that require us to obtain additional export and import licenses or delays in obtaining export or import licenses currently being sought could cause significant shipment delays and, if such delays are too great, could result in the cancellation of orders. Any future restrictions or charges imposed by the United States or any other country on our international sales or foreign subsidiary could have a materially adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and/or operating results. In addition, from time to time, we have entered into contracts with the Israeli Ministry of Defense which were governed by the U.S. Foreign Military Financing program (“FMF”). Any such future sales would be subject to these regulations. Failure to comply with ITAR or FMF rules could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, and/or operating results.

 

We depend on international operations for a substantial majority of our components and products.

We purchase a substantial majority of our components from foreign manufacturers and have a substantial majority of our commercial products assembled, packaged, and tested by subcontractors located outside the United States. These activities are subject to the uncertainties associated with international business operations, including trade barriers and other restrictions, changes in trade policies, governmental regulations, currency exchange fluctuations, reduced protection for intellectual property, war and other military activities, terrorism, changes in social, political, or economic conditions, and other disruptions or delays in production or shipments, any of which could have a materially adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and/or operating results.

 

We depend on international sales for a portion of our revenues.

Sales to customers outside of North America accounted for 34.8% and 40.2% of net revenues for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, and we expect that international sales will continue to represent a material portion of our total revenues. International sales are subject to the risks of international business operations as described above, as well as generally longer payment cycles, greater difficulty collecting accounts receivable, and currency restrictions. In addition, DPL, our wholly-owned subsidiary in the United Kingdom, supports our European and other international customers, distributors, and sales representatives, and therefore is also subject to local regulation. International sales are also subject to the export laws and regulations of the United States and other countries.

 

 

 

	•	The introduction and market acceptance of new technologies, products and services;
	•	New competitors and new forms of competition;
	•	The size and timing of customer orders (for retail distributed physical product);
	•	The size and timing of capital expenditures by our customers;
	•	Adverse changes in the credit quality of our customers and suppliers;
	•	Changes in the pricing policies of, or the introduction of, new products and services by us or our competitors;
	•	Changes in the terms of our contracts with our customers or suppliers;
	•	The availability of products from our suppliers; and
	•	Variations in product costs and the mix of products sold.

These trends and factors could adversely affect our business, profitability and financial condition and diminish our ability to achieve our strategic objectives.

 The sale of our products is dependent upon our ability to satisfy the proprietary requirements of our customers.

We depend upon a relatively narrow range of products for the majority of our revenue. Our success in marketing our products is dependent upon their continued acceptance by our customers. In some cases, our customers require that our products meet their own proprietary requirements. If we are unable to satisfy such requirements, or forecast and adapt to changes in such requirements, our business could be materially harmed.

 

The sale of our products is dependent on our ability to respond to rapid technological change, including evolving industry-wide standards, and may be adversely affected by the development, and acceptance by our customers, of new technologies which may compete with, or reduce the demand for, our products.

Rapid technological change, including evolving industry standards, could render our products obsolete. To the extent our customers adopt such new technology in place of our products, the sales of our products may be adversely affected. Such competition may also increase pricing pressure for our products and adversely affect the revenues from such products.

 

Our limited ability to protect our proprietary information and technology may adversely affect our ability to compete, and our products could infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others, resulting in claims against us, the results of which could be costly.

Many of our products consist entirely or partly of proprietary technology owned by us. Although we seek to protect our technology through a combination of copyrights, trade secret laws and contractual obligations, these protections may not be sufficient to prevent the wrongful appropriation of our intellectual property, nor will they prevent our competitors from independently developing technologies that are substantially equivalent or superior to our proprietary technology. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect our proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. In order to defend our proprietary rights in the technology utilized in our products from third party infringement, we may be required to institute legal proceedings, which would be costly and would divert our resources from the development of our business. If we are unable to successfully assert and defend our proprietary rights in the technology utilized in our products, our future results could be adversely affected.

 

Although we attempt to avoid infringing known proprietary rights of third parties in our product development efforts, we may become subject to legal proceedings and claims for alleged infringement from time to time in the ordinary course of business. Any claims relating to the infringement of third-party proprietary rights, even if not meritorious, could result in costly litigation, divert management’s attention and resources, require us to reengineer or cease sales of our products or require us to enter into royalty or license agreements which are not advantageous to us. In addition, parties making claims may be able to obtain an injunction, which could prevent us from selling our products in the United States or abroad.

 

  

If we are unable to satisfy our customers’ specific product quality, certification or network requirements, our business could be disrupted and our financial condition could be harmed.

Our customers demand that our products meet stringent quality, performance and reliability standards. We have, from time to time, experienced problems in satisfying such standards. Defects or failures have occurred in the past, and may in the future occur, relating to our product quality, performance and reliability. From time to time, our customers also require us to implement specific changes to our products to allow these products to operate within their specific network configurations. If we are unable to remedy these failures or defects or if we cannot effect such required product modifications, we could experience lost revenues, increased costs, including inventory write-offs, warranty expense and costs associated with customer support, delays in, or cancellations or rescheduling of, orders or shipments and product returns or discounts, any of which would harm our business.

 

If we ship products that contain defects, the market acceptance of our products and our reputation will be harmed and our customers could seek to recover their damages from us.

Our products are complex, and despite extensive testing, may contain defects or undetected errors or failures that may become apparent only after our products have been shipped to our customers and installed in their network or after product features or new versions are released. Any such defect, error or failure could result in failure of market acceptance of our products or damage to our reputation or relations with our customers, resulting in substantial costs for us and our customers as well as the cancellation of orders, warranty costs and product returns. In addition, any defects, errors, misuse of our products or other potential problems within or out of our control that may arise from the use of our products could result in financial or other damages to our customers. Our customers could seek to have us pay for these losses. Although we maintain product liability insurance, it may not be adequate.

 

We intend to develop an online cloud mining platform which may subject us to additional liabilities from our customers.

The Company intends to develop and offer a cloud mining platform to customers who prefer not to directly acquire and maintain crypto mining hardware. To date, the Company has offered the cloud mining platform to selected customers prior to offering the platform to the general public. The success of this business will be largely dependent on achieving sustainable revenues that are dependent on prices of the various currencies and controlling costs, which are primarily power and computer hardware.  In addition, through our management and administration of crypto mining equipment on behalf of our customers, we may become subject to actions from our customers seeking to recover for liabilities arising from, among other matters:

·	erroneously accounting for proceeds from crypto mining activities;

·	power, network or technology failures which prevent our miners from operating efficiently;

·	delays in processing payments at times when there are significant fluctuations in the price of the cryptocurrencies; and

·	hackers or other malicious groups or organizations targeting and attempting to interfere with our miners which could negatively affect the operations of such miners.

 

 

The Company may lose access to digital tokens and any cryptocurrency due to loss of private key(s), custodial error, or purchaser error.

A private key, or a combination of private keys, is necessary to control and dispose of cryptocurrency stored in a digital wallet or vault. Accordingly, loss of requisite private key(s) associated with a digital wallet or vault storing cryptocurrency will result in loss of such cryptocurrency. Moreover, any third party that gains access to such private key(s), including by gaining access to login credentials of a digital wallet or secure service used by the Company, may be able to misappropriate any digital token or cryptocurrency held by the Company. Any errors or malfunctions caused by or otherwise related to the digital wallet that the Company chooses to receive and store cryptocurrency, including the Company’s failure to properly maintain or use such digital wallet or secure service, may also result in the loss of any cryptocurrency held by the Company.  Additionally, the Company’s failure to follow precisely the procedures for buying and receiving cryptocurrency, including, for instance, if it provides the wrong address for receiving cryptocurrency, may result in the loss of any cryptocurrency held or purchased by the Company.

Hackers or other malicious groups or organizations may attempt to interfere with end users of digital tokens, or cryptocurrency, in a variety of ways.

Hackers or other malicious groups or organizations may target and attempt to interfere with end users of digital tokens, or cryptocurrency, in a variety of ways, including, but not limited to, end user attacks such as malware attacks, denial of service attacks, consensus-based attacks, Sybil attacks, smurfing and spoofing. Furthermore, although the Company utilizes a closed system to mine cryptocurrency, there is a risk that a third party or a member of the Company may intentionally or unintentionally introduce weaknesses into the core infrastructure, which could negatively affect the Company and any cryptocurrency with which the Company is involved.

The Company has discretion over the maintenance, storage and transmission of its cryptocurrency holdings. Currently investments and holdings in cryptocurrencies by the Company are uninsured and, as a result, the Company may lose all of its money invested in cryptocurrencies without any recourse.

Unlike bank accounts or accounts at some other financial institutions, cryptocurrencies are generally uninsured unless an investor purchases private insurance to insure them or holds them with a vendor which provides insurance. Thus, in the event of loss or loss of utility value, there is no public insurer, such as the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (“SIPC”) or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), to offer recourse to any investor, including the Company, unless covered independently by private insurance arranged by us. Further, the Company has wide discretion over the storage of its cryptocurrency holdings. The Company intends to use various third party wallet providers, trust companies or others to hold its cryptocurrency holdings. The Company may have a high concentration of its cryptocurrency holdings in one location or with one third party wallet provider, which may be prone to losses arising out of hacking, loss of passwords, compromised access credentials, malware, cyber-attacks or other factors. The Company may not do detailed diligence on third party wallet providers and, as a result, may not be aware of all security vulnerabilities and risks. Certain third party wallet providers may not indemnify the Company against any losses thereby hurting the Company’s ability to recover losses from third party wallet providers. The systems in place to ensure the security of the Company’s cryptocurrency holdings may not prevent the improper access to, damage or theft of the Company’s holdings in cryptocurrencies. Further, a loss due to the storage of the Company’s cryptocurrencies could harm the Company's reputation or result in the loss of some or all of the Company’s cryptocurrencies, including those assets held on behalf of customers for the Company’s online cloud mining platform.

The regulatory status of cryptocurrency and distributed ledger technology is unclear or unsettled in many jurisdictions and it is difficult to predict the impact future regulation may have on either.

The regulatory status of cryptocurrency and distributed ledger technology is unclear or unsettled in many jurisdictions. It is difficult to predict how or whether regulatory agencies may apply existing regulation with respect to such technology and its applications. It is likewise difficult to predict how or whether legislatures or regulatory agencies may implement changes to law and regulation affecting distributed ledger technology and its applications, including applicable cryptocurrency protocols.  Regulatory actions could negatively impact any cryptocurrency in various ways, including, for purposes of illustration only, through a determination that cryptocurrency are a regulated financial instrument that requires registration or licensing.

 

 

 

The transfer of any cryptocurrency may be restricted, which may adversely affect its liquidity and the price at which it may be sold.

Cryptocurrency has not been, and will not be, registered under the Securities Act or the securities laws of any other jurisdiction and, unless so registered, may not be offered or sold except pursuant to an exemption from, or a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and any other applicable laws and regulations. These restrictions may limit the ability of investors to resell cryptocurrency. It is the responsibility of any holder of a digital token or a cryptocurrency to ensure that all offers and sales of cryptocurrency within the United States and other jurisdictions comply with all applicable laws and regulations.

Cryptocurrency confers no governance rights in any entity.

Because cryptocurrencies confer no governance rights of any kind with respect to any entity with which such digital token or cryptocurrency may be associated, all decisions involving a related company will be made by the management and/or stockholders of such company at their sole discretion.  These decisions could adversely affect the utility or value of any applicable digital token or cryptocurrency.

There are unanticipated and unknown risks in buying and holding cryptocurrency and/or cryptographic tokens.

Digital tokens and various cryptocurrencies are a relatively new and untested technology. In addition to the risks specified in these risk factors, there are other risks associated with either the Company’s or a holder’s purchase, holding and use of digital tokens and cryptocurrency cannot be anticipated. Such risks may further materialize as unanticipated variations or combinations of the risks discussed in this prospectus supplement.

Our decision to deal in cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoins, may subject us to exchange risk and additional tax and regulatory requirements.

Bitcoin is not considered legal tender or backed by any government, and it has experienced price volatility, technological glitches and various law enforcement and regulatory interventions. The use of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin has been prohibited or effectively prohibited in some countries. If we fail to comply with regulations or prohibitions applicable to us, we could face regulatory or other enforcement actions and potential fines and other consequences. From time to time, we may hold bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies directly, and we have exchange rate risk on the amounts we hold as well as the risks that regulatory or other developments may adversely affect the value of the cryptocurrencies we hold. The uncertainties regarding legal and regulatory requirements relating to cryptocurrencies or transactions utilizing cryptocurrencies, as well as potential accounting and tax issues, or other requirements relating to cryptocurrencies could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Various cryptocurrencies facilitate the use of anonymous transactions which could adversely affect the Company.

Although bitcoin and other cryptocurrency transaction details are logged on the blockchain, a buyer or seller of bitcoin may never know to whom the public key belongs or the true identity of the party with whom it is transacting. Some public key addresses are randomized sequences of alphanumeric characters that, standing alone, do not provide sufficient information to identify users. Transacting with a counterparty that is unknown to the Company, such as a party making illicit use of cryptocurrencies, could have an adverse effect on the Company or its reputation.

 

 

Our investment in Super Crypto Mining, Inc. may expose us to risks under laws and regulations with which we do not have significant experience.

In 2017, we established our cryptocurrency business, which is pursuing a variety of digital currency. We anticipate mining the top ten cryptocurrencies for our own account. These include Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and Ethereum, along with other currencies that we consider to be in the top ten by market capitalization. Virtually every state in the U.S. regulates money transmitters and money services businesses. In some states the licensing requirements and regulations expressly cover companies engaged in digital currency activities; in other states it is not clear whether or how the existing laws and regulations apply to digital currency activities. Further, U.S. federal law requires registration of most such businesses with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”). These licenses and registrations subject companies to various anti-money laundering, know-your-customer, record-keeping, reporting and capital and bonding requirements, limitations on the investment of customer funds, and inspection by state and federal regulatory agencies. Under U.S. federal law, it is a crime for a person, entity or business that is required to be registered with FinCEN or licensed in any state to fail to do so, even if the person, entity or business was unaware of the licensing requirement. Further, under U.S. federal law, anyone who owns all or part of an unlicensed money transmitting business is subject to civil and criminal penalties. The business in which we have invested has represented to us that it has not taken any action that could subject it to registration with FinCEN or to the licensing requirements in any state and has agreed that it will not do so until it has become properly licensed in all required states and registered with FinCEN. However, if the business makes an error, even inadvertently, we could be subject to potential civil and criminal penalties as a result. Any such penalties, or even the allegation of criminal activities, could have a material adverse effect on us and our business. Further, all of our foreign business activities expose us to a variety of risks, including risks under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

U.S. and international regulatory changes or actions may restrict the use of or impose heightened regulatory burdens on cryptocurrency or the operation of cryptocurrency network based on currency, securities, or commodities regulations in a manner that adversely affects an investment in us.

 

Until recently, little or no regulatory attention has been directed toward cryptocurrency and the cryptocurrency networks by U.S. federal and state governments, foreign governments, and self-regulatory agencies. As cryptocurrency has grown in popularity and in market size, the Federal Reserve Board, U.S. Congress, and certain U.S. agencies (e.g., FinCEN and the Federal Bureau of Investigation) have begun to examine the operations of cryptocurrency networks, cryptocurrency users, and cryptocurrency exchange markets. Local state regulators such as the California Department of Financial Institutions and the New York State Department of Financial Services have also initiated examinations of Bitcoins, the Bitcoin Network, and the regulation thereof. Additionally, a U.S. federal magistrate judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas has ruled that “Bitcoin is a currency or form of money,” two CFTC commissioners publicly expressed a belief that derivatives based on Bitcoins are subject to the same regulation as those based on commodities, and the IRS released guidance treating cryptocurrency as property that is not currency for U.S. federal income tax purposes, although there is no indication yet whether other courts or federal or state regulators will follow these asset classifications. There is a possibility of future regulatory change altering, perhaps to a material extent, the nature of an investment in us or our ability to continue to operate.

  

Currently, neither the SEC nor the CFTC has formally asserted regulatory authority over cryptocurrency, cryptocurrency networks, or cryptocurrency trading and ownership, though in testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry on December 10, 2014, CFTC Chairman Timothy Massad stated that the CFTC believed it had jurisdiction over derivative instruments such as futures and swaps based on digital currencies. On July 25, 2017, the SEC issued an investigative report, stating that offers and sales of digital assets by “virtual” organizations using distributed ledger or cryptocurrency technology (i.e., Initial Coin Offerings or Token Sales) are subject to the requirements of the federal securities laws. Furthermore, the SEC has raised concerns with instances of public companies changing their business models to reflect a focus on cryptocurrency or blockchain technology and is looking closely at the disclosures of public companies that shift their business models to capitalize on the perceived promise of distributed ledger technology and whether the disclosures comply with the federal securities laws, particularly in the context of a securities offering, and in a few instances halted the trading of companies. To the extent that Bitcoins, Ethereum, or Litecoins, themselves are determined to be a security, commodity future or other regulated asset, or to the extent that a US or foreign government or quasi-governmental agency exerts regulatory authority over the Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Litecoin Networks, or cryptocurrency trading and ownership, trading or ownership in cryptocurrency may be adversely affected, which could adversely affect an investment in our company.

 

To the extent that future regulatory actions or policies limit the ability to exchange cryptocurrency or utilize them for payments, the demand for cryptocurrency will be reduced. Furthermore, regulatory actions may limit the ability of end-users to convert cryptocurrency into fiat currency (e.g., U.S. Dollars) or use cryptocurrency to pay for goods and services. Such regulatory actions or policies could adversely affect an investment in us.

 

 

Cryptocurrency currently faces an uncertain regulatory landscape in not only the United States but also in many foreign jurisdictions such as the European Union, China and Russia. While certain governments such as Germany—where the Ministry of Finance has declared Bitcoins to be “Rechnungseinheiten” (a form of private money that is recognized as a unit of account, but not recognized in the same manner as fiat currency) — have issued guidance as to how to treat bitcoins and/or other cryptocurrencies, most regulatory bodies have not yet issued official statements regarding intention to regulate or determinations on regulation of cryptocurrency, the cryptocurrency networks, and cryptocurrency users. Among those for which preliminary guidance has been issued in some form, Canada and Taiwan have labeled cryptocurrency as a digital or virtual currency, distinct from fiat currency, while Sweden and Norway are among those to categorize cryptocurrency as a form of virtual asset or commodity. In China, authorities have recently banned use of bitcoins and/or other cryptocurrencies and ordered Beijing-based cryptocurrency exchanges to cease trading and immediately notify users of their closures. Similarly, Russia has indicated an intention to ban use of bitcoins and/or other cryptocurrencies and Russia’s Central Bank stated that at this stage they will not approve any cryptocurrency trading on any official exchange, nor will it approve the use of the technology for infrastructure purposes. In May 2014, the Central Bank of Bolivia banned the use of Bitcoins as a means of payment. In the summer and fall of 2014, Ecuador announced plans for its own state-backed electronic money, while passing legislation that reportedly prohibits the use of decentralized digital currencies. Conversely, regulatory bodies in some countries such as India and Switzerland have declined to exercise regulatory authority when afforded the opportunity. Various foreign jurisdictions may, in the near future, adopt laws, regulations, or directives that affect cryptocurrency networks and its users, particularly cryptocurrency exchanges and service providers that fall within such jurisdictions’ regulatory scope. Other countries such as Malaysia and Australia have been considering regulation, classification, and potential bans. Such laws, regulations, or directives may conflict with those of the United States and may negatively impact the acceptance of cryptocurrency by users, merchants, and service providers outside of the United States and may, therefore, impede the growth of the cryptocurrency economy.

 

The effect of any future regulatory change on our company or cryptocurrency is impossible to predict, but such change could be substantial and adverse to us and could adversely affect an investment in us.

 

It may be illegal now, or in the future, to acquire, own, hold, sell or use cryptocurrency in one or more countries, and ownership of, holding or trading in or company’s securities may also be considered illegal and subject to sanction.

Although currently cryptocurrency is not regulated or are lightly regulated in most countries, including the United States, one or more countries may take regulatory actions in the future that severely restricts the right to acquire, own, hold, sell or use cryptocurrency or to exchange cryptocurrency for fiat currency. Such restrictions may adversely affect an investment in our company.

Cryptocurrency transactions are irrevocable and stolen or incorrectly transferred cryptocurrency may be irretrievable. As a result, any incorrectly executed cryptocurrency transactions could render company liable to lawsuits or criminal charges to the extent company facilitates bad transactions, and thus, adversely affect an investment in us.

Cryptocurrency transactions are not, from an administrative perspective, reversible without the consent and active participation of the recipient of the transaction or, in theory, control or consent of a majority of the processing power on the cryptocurrency network. Once a transaction has been verified and recorded in a block that is added to the blockchain, an incorrect transfer of cryptocurrency or a theft of cryptocurrency generally will not be reversible and we may not be capable of seeking compensation for any such transfer or theft. Although our transfers of cryptocurrency will regularly be made to or from vendors, consultants, services providers, etc. it is possible that, through computer or human error, or through theft or criminal action, our cryptocurrency could be transferred from us in incorrect amounts or to unauthorized third parties. To the extent that we are unable to seek a corrective transaction with such third-party or are incapable of identifying the third-party that has received our cryptocurrency through error or theft, we will be unable to revert or otherwise recover incorrectly transferred company cryptocurrency. To the extent that we are unable to seek redress for such error or theft, such loss could adversely affect an investment in us. In addition, incorrectly executed cryptocurrency transactions could render company liable to lawsuits or criminal charges to the extent company facilitates bad transactions, and thus, adversely affect an investment in us.

 

 

The cryptocurrency exchanges on which cryptocurrencies trade are relatively new and, in most cases, largely unregulated and may therefore be more exposed to fraud and failure than established, regulated exchanges for other products. To the extent that the cryptocurrency exchanges representing a substantial portion of the volume in cryptocurrency trading are involved in fraud or experience security failures or other operational issues, such cryptocurrency exchanges’ failures may result in a reduction in the price of cryptocurrency and can adversely affect an investment in us.

The cryptocurrency exchanges on which cryptocurrency trade are new and, in most cases, largely unregulated. Furthermore, many cryptocurrency exchanges do not provide the public with significant information regarding their ownership structure, management teams, corporate practices, or regulatory compliance. As a result, the marketplace may lose confidence in, or may experience problems relating to, cryptocurrency exchanges, including prominent exchanges handling a significant portion of the volume of cryptocurrency trading. These potential consequences of a cryptocurrency exchange’s failure could reduce the demand and use of cryptocurrency, reduce the value of cryptocurrency, and/or adversely affect an investment in us.

 

In the past, many cryptocurrency exchanges have been closed due to fraud, failure, or security breaches. In many of these instances, the customers of such cryptocurrency exchanges were not compensated or made whole for the partial or complete losses of their account balances in such cryptocurrency exchanges. While smaller cryptocurrency exchanges are less likely to have the infrastructure and capitalization that make larger cryptocurrency exchanges more stable, larger cryptocurrency exchanges are more likely to be appealing targets for hackers and “malware” (i.e., software used or programmed by attackers to disrupt computer operation, gather sensitive information, or gain access to private computer systems).

If the awards of cryptocurrency for solving blocks and transaction fees for recording transactions are not sufficiently high to incentivize miners, miners may respond in a way that reduces confidence in the cryptocurrency networks, which could adversely affect an investment in our company.

If the award of new cryptocurrency for solving blocks declines and transaction fees are not sufficiently high, miners may not have an adequate incentive to continue mining cryptocurrency and may cease their crypto mining operations.  Miners ceasing operations would reduce the collective processing power on the cryptocurrency networks, which would adversely affect the confirmation process for transactions (i.e., temporarily decreasing the speed at which blocks are added to the blockchain until the next scheduled adjustment in difficulty for block solutions) and make the cryptocurrency networks more vulnerable to a malicious actor or botnet obtaining control in excess of 50 percent of the processing power on the cryptocurrency networks. Any reduction in confidence in the confirmation process or processing power of cryptocurrency networks may adversely impact Super Crypto Mining, Inc., as well as an investment in us.

 

In addition, to the extent to which the value of cryptocurrency mined by a professionalized crypto mining operation exceeds the allocable capital and operating costs determines the profit margin of such operation. A professionalized crypto mining operation may be more likely to sell a higher percentage of its newly mined cryptocurrency rapidly if it is operating at a low profit margin—and it may partially or completely cease operations if its profit margin is negative. In a low profit margin environment, a higher percentage of the new cryptocurrency mined each day will be sold into the cryptocurrency exchange markets more rapidly, thereby reducing cryptocurrency prices. Lower cryptocurrency prices will result in further tightening of profit margins, particularly for professionalized crypto mining operations with higher costs and more limited capital reserves, creating a network effect that may further reduce the price of cryptocurrency until crypto mining operations with higher operating costs become unprofitable and remove mining power from the cryptocurrency networks. The network effect of reduced profit margins resulting in greater sales of newly mined cryptocurrency could result in a reduction in the price of cryptocurrency that could adversely impact Super Crypto Mining, Inc., as well as an investment in our company.

To the extent that any miners cease to record transactions in solved blocks, transactions that do not include the payment of a transaction fee will not be recorded on the blockchain until a block is solved by a miner who does not require the payment of transaction fees. Any widespread delays in the recording of transactions could result in a loss of confidence in the cryptocurrency networks, which could adversely impact an investment in us.

To the extent that any miners cease to record transactions in solved blocks, such transactions will not be recorded on the blockchain. Currently, there are no known incentives for miners to elect to exclude the recording of transactions in solved blocks; however, to the extent that any such incentives arise (e.g., a collective movement among miners or one or more mining pools forcing cryptocurrency users to pay transaction fees as a substitute for or in addition to the award of new cryptocurrency upon the solving of a block), actions of miners solving a significant number of blocks could delay the recording and confirmation of transactions on the blockchain. Any systemic delays in the recording and confirmation of transactions on the blockchain could result in greater exposure to double-spending transactions and a loss of confidence in cryptocurrency networks, which could adversely impact an investment in our company. 

 

 

Intellectual property rights claims may adversely affect the operation of cryptocurrency networks.

Third parties may assert intellectual property claims relating to the holding and transfer of digital currencies and their source code. Regardless of the merit of any intellectual property or other legal action, any threatened action that reduces confidence in cryptocurrency networks’ long-term viability or the ability of end-users to hold and transfer cryptocurrency may adversely affect an investment in us. Additionally, a meritorious intellectual property claim could prevent us and other end-users from accessing cryptocurrency networks or holding or transferring their cryptocurrency. As a result, an intellectual property claim against us or other large cryptocurrency network participants could adversely affect an investment in us.

Currently, there is relatively small use of cryptocurrency in the marketplace in comparison to relatively large use by speculators, thus contributing to price volatility that could adversely affect an investment in us.

As relatively new products and technologies, cryptocurrency has only recently become widely accepted as a means of payment for goods and services, and use of cryptocurrency by remains limited. Conversely, a significant portion of cryptocurrency demand is generated by speculators and investors seeking to profit from the short- or long-term holding of cryptocurrency. A lack of expansion by cryptocurrency into our markets, or a contraction of such use, may result in increased volatility or a reduction in the price of cryptocurrencies, either of which could adversely impact an investment in us.

 

The acceptance of Bitcoin Network, Ethereum Network, or Litecoin Network software patches or upgrades by a significant, but not overwhelming, percentage of the users and miners in the respective networks could result in a “fork” in the blockchain, resulting in the operation of two separate networks until such time as the forked blockchains are merged. The temporary or permanent existence of forked blockchains could adversely impact Super Crypto Mining, Inc. as well as an investment in us.

Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin are open source projects and, although there is an influential group of leaders in the cryptocurrency community, there is no official developer or group of developers that formally controls the Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Litecoin Networks. Any individual can download the particular cryptocurrency network software and make any desired modifications, which are proposed to users and miners on the respective network through software downloads and upgrades. A substantial majority of miners and the particular cryptocurrency users must consent to those software modifications by downloading the altered software or upgrade that implements the changes; otherwise, the changes do not become a part of the cryptocurrency network. Generally, changes to various cryptocurrency networks have been accepted by the vast majority of users and miners, ensuring that the cryptocurrency networks remain coherent economic systems; however, a developer or group of developers could potentially propose a modification to a cryptocurrency network that is not accepted by a vast majority of miners and users, but that is nonetheless accepted by a substantial population of participants in the respective cryptocurrency network. In such a case, and if the modification is material and/or not backwards compatible with the prior version of the respective cryptocurrency network software, a “fork” in the blockchain could develop and two separate networks of the same cryptocurrency could result, one running the pre-modification software program and the other running the modified version (e.g., a second bitcoin network). Such a fork in the blockchain typically would be addressed by community-led efforts to merge the forked blockchains, and several prior forks have been so merged without any material impact on the price of Bitcoin, although there can be no assurance that this will always be the case upon a fork. This kind of split in a Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Litecoin Network could materially and adversely impact an investment in us and, in the worst case scenario, harm the sustainability of the respective network’s economy.

 

The open-source structure of cryptocurrency network protocol means that the developers and other contributors to the protocol are generally not directly compensated for their contributions in maintaining and developing the protocol. A failure to properly monitor and upgrade the protocol could damage the cryptocurrency network and an investment in us.

The Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin Networks operate based on an open-source protocol maintained by certain core developers and other contributors. The core developers are those developers employed by MIT Media Lab’s Digital Currency Initiative who oversee the Bitcoin Network. As these network protocols are not sold and the networks’ use does not generate revenues for its development team, the core developers and contributors are generally not compensated for maintaining and updating the respective cryptocurrency network protocol. To the extent that material issues arise with the Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Litecoin Network protocols, and the core developers and open-source contributor community are unable to address the issues adequately or in a timely manner, the respective cryptocurrency network, Super Crypto Mining, Inc. and an investment in us may be adversely affected.

 

 

The further development and acceptance of cryptocurrency networks, which represents a new and rapidly changing industry, are subject to a variety of factors that are difficult to evaluate. The slowing or stopping of the development or acceptance of digital currency systems may adversely affect our business.

Digital currencies may be used, among other things, to buy and sell goods and services are a new and rapidly evolving industry. The growth of the digital currency industry in general, and in particular the Bitcoin industry, Ethereum industry, and Litecoin industry, are subject to a high degree of uncertainty. The factors affecting the further development of the digital currencies industry, as well as the Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin industries, include:

 

·	Continued worldwide growth in the adoption and use of Bitcoins, Ethereum, and Litecoins, and other cryptocurrency;

·	Government and quasi-government regulation of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin, and other cryptocurrency and their use, or restrictions on or regulation of access to and operation of cryptocurrency networks and system;

·	The maintenance and development of the open-source software protocol of various cryptocurrency networks;

·	The availability and popularity of other forms or methods of buying and selling goods and services, including new means of using fiat currencies; and

·	General economic conditions and the regulatory environment relating to digital currencies.

·	A decline in the popularity or acceptance of the top cryptocurrencies or their networks could adversely affect an investment in us.

The value of cryptocurrency and fluctuations in the price of cryptocurrency could materially and adversely affect the business of Super Crypto Mining, Inc. and investment in the company.

Several factors may affect the value of cryptocurrency, including, but not limited to:

 

·	Total cryptocurrency in existence;

·

Global cryptocurrency demand, which is influenced by the growth of retail merchants’ and commercial businesses’ acceptance of cryptocurrency as payment for goods and services, the security of online cryptocurrency exchanges and digital wallets that hold cryptocurrency, the perception that the use and holding of cryptocurrency is safe and secure, the lack of regulatory restrictions on their use and the reputation of cryptocurrency for illicit use;

·

Global cryptocurrency supply, which is influenced by similar factors as global cryptocurrency demand, in addition to fiat currency needs by miners (for example, to invest in equipment or pay electricity bills) and taxpayers who may liquidate cryptocurrency holdings around tax deadlines to meet tax obligations;

·	Investors’ expectations with respect to the rate of inflation or deflation of fiat currencies or cryptocurrency;

·	Interest rates;

·	Currency exchange rates, including the rates at which cryptocurrency may be exchanged for fiat currencies;

·	Fiat currency withdrawal and deposit policies of cryptocurrency exchanges and liquidity of such cryptocurrency exchanges;

·	Interruptions in service from or failures of major cryptocurrency exchanges;

·	Cyber theft of cryptocurrency from online cryptocurrency wallet providers, or news of such theft from such providers, or from individuals’ cryptocurrency wallets;

·	Investment and trading activities of large investors, including private and registered funds, that may directly or indirectly invest in cryptocurrency;

·	Monetary policies of governments, trade restrictions, currency devaluations and revaluations;

·	Regulatory measures, if any, that restrict the use of cryptocurrency as a form of payment or the purchase of cryptocurrency on the cryptocurrency market;

·	The availability and popularity of businesses that provide cryptocurrency -related services;

·	The maintenance and development of the open source software protocol of certain cryptocurrency networks;

·	Increased competition from other forms of cryptocurrency or payments services;

·	Global or regional political, economic, or financial events and situations;

 

 

·	Expectations among cryptocurrency economy participants that the value of cryptocurrency will soon change; and

·	Fees associated with processing a cryptocurrency transaction.

Banks and financial institutions may not provide banking services, or may cut off services, to businesses that provide cryptocurrency-related services or that accept cryptocurrencies as payment, including financial institutions of investors in the Company’s securities.

The underlying cryptocurrency algorithms, protocols and other important factors are constantly changing. It is possible that these changes could negatively impact the Company’s business and business plans. Should the top cryptocurrencies that the Company intends to focus on shift their underlying protocols, algorithms, validation methods or other material factors (for instance from a proof of work validation method to a proof of stake method, which is an alternative method to proof of work for validating cryptocurrency transactions), it could adversely impact the Company’s business prospects. A shift from proof of work validation method to a proof of stake method could render any Company that maintains advantages in the current climate (for example from lower priced electric, processing, real estate, or hosting) less competitive Any major changes related to the top cryptocurrencies could have an adverse impact on the ability of Super Crypto Mining, Inc. and Super Crypto Power to continue as going concerns or to pursue this segment at all, which would have a material adverse effect on the business, prospects or operations of the Company and potentially the value of any cryptocurrencies the Company holds or expects to acquire for its own account.

The miners that the Company has purchased allow the Company to decide which cryptocurrency to mine. The factors that affect the success of mining an individual cryptocurrency change rapidly. Should the Company choose the wrong cryptocurrency to focus its crypto mining operations on, it could adversely impact the Company’s business prospects.

Over the years, crypto mining operations have evolved from individual users mining with computer processors, graphics processing units and first generation application-specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”) servers. Currently, new processing power is predominantly added by incorporated and unincorporated “professionalized” crypto mining operations. Professionalized crypto mining operations may use proprietary hardware or sophisticated ASIC machines acquired from ASIC manufacturers. They require the investment of significant capital for the acquisition of this hardware, the leasing of operating space (often in data centers or warehousing facilities), incurring of electricity costs and the employment of technicians to operate the cryptocurrency mining farms.

As a result, professionalized crypto mining operations are of a greater scale than prior miners and have more defined, regular expenses and liabilities. These regular expenses and liabilities require professionalized crypto mining operations to more immediately sell cryptocurrencies earned from crypto mining operations, whereas it is believed that individual miners in past years were more likely to hold newly mined bitcoins and/or other cryptocurrencies for more extended periods. The immediate selling of newly mined bitcoins and/or other cryptocurrencies greatly increases the supply of bitcoins and/or other cryptocurrencies for sale, creating downward pressure on the price of bitcoins and/or other cryptocurrencies.

  

The extent to which the value of bitcoins and/or other cryptocurrencies mined by a professionalized crypto mining operation exceeds the allocable capital and operating costs determines the profit margin of such operation. A professionalized crypto mining operation may be more likely to sell a higher percentage of its newly mined bitcoins and/or other cryptocurrencies rapidly if it is operating at a low profit margin—and it may partially or completely cease operations if its profit margin is negative. In a low profit margin environment, a higher percentage could be sold more rapidly, thereby potentially reducing bitcoin and/or other cryptocurrencies prices. Lower bitcoin and/or other cryptocurrencies prices could result in further tightening of profit margins, particularly for professionalized crypto mining operations with higher costs and more limited capital reserves, creating a network effect that may further reduce the price of bitcoin until crypto mining operations with higher operating costs become unprofitable and remove mining power. The network effect of reduced profit margins resulting in greater sales of newly mined bitcoins and/or other cryptocurrencies could result in a reduction in the price of bitcoins and/or other cryptocurrencies that could adversely impact business of Super Crypto Mining, Inc. and the Company.

The foregoing risks associated with bitcoin could be equally applicable to other cryptocurrencies, existing now or introduced in the future.  Such circumstances would have a material adverse effect on the ability of the Company to continue as a going concern or to pursue this segment at all, which would have a material adverse effect on the business, prospects or operations of the Company and potentially the value of any cryptocurrencies the Company may hold or expect to acquire for its own account and harm investors.

The increase in interest and demand for cryptocurrencies has led to a shortage of crypto mining hardware as individuals purchase equipment for mining at home and large scale mining evolved. Equipment in Super Crypto Mining, Inc.’s crypto mining facilities will require replacement from time to time and new technological innovations could render the Company’s current equipment obsolete at any time. Shortages of graphics processing units may lead to unnecessary downtime for miners and limit the availability or accessibility of cryptocurrency mining processing capabilities in the industry. Such events would have a material adverse effect on the ability of the Company to continue as a going concern or to pursue this segment at all, which would have a material adverse effect on the business, prospects or operations of the Company and potentially the value of any cryptocurrencies the Company may hold or expect to acquire for its own account.

We have an evolving business model.

           As Digital Assets and blockchain technologies become more widely available, we expect the services and products associated with them to evolve. Very recently, the Commission issued a report that promoters that use initial coin offerings or token sales to raise capital may be engaged in the offer and sale of securities in violation of the Securities Act and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”). This may cause us to potentially change our future business in order to comply fully with the federal securities laws as well as applicable state securities laws. As a result, to stay current with the industry, our business model may need to evolve as well. From time to time we may modify aspects of our business model relating to our product mix and service offerings. We cannot offer any assurance that these or any other modifications will be successful or will not result in harm to the business. We may not be able to manage growth effectively, which could damage our reputation, limit our growth and negatively affect our operating results.

 

 

“Digital Asset” — Collectively, all digital assets based upon a computer-generated math-based and/or cryptographic protocol that may, among other things, be used to buy and sell goods or pay for services. Bitcoins represent one type of Digital Asset.

          “Digital Security” — A type of Digital Asset that is offered by a promoter as an investment contract, which is a type of security defined by Section 2(a)(1) of the Securities Act.

Since there has been limited precedence set for the financial accounting of digital assets, it is unclear how the Company will be required to account for digital asset transactions or assets. Furthermore, a change in regulatory or financial accounting standards could result in the necessity to restate the Company’s financial statements. Such a restatement could negatively impact the Company’s business, prospects, financial condition and results of operation. Such circumstances would have a material adverse effect on the ability of the Company to continue as a going concern or to pursue this segment at all, which would have a material adverse effect on the business, prospects or operations of the Company and potentially the value of any cryptocurrencies the Company holds or expects to acquire for its own account and harm investors.

The Bitcoin Network and bitcoins, as an asset, hold a “first-to-market” advantage over other digital assets. This first-to-market advantage is driven in large part by having the largest user base and, more importantly, the largest combined mining power in use to secure the blockchain and transaction verification system.   Having a large crypto mining network results in greater user confidence regarding the security and long-term stability of a digital asset’s network and its blockchain; as a result, the advantage of more users and miners makes a digital asset more secure, which makes it more attractive to new users and miners, resulting in a network effect that strengthens the first-to-market advantage.

There are thousands of alternate digital assets (or altcoins). Bitcoin enjoys significantly greater acceptance and usage than other altcoin networks in the retail and commercial marketplace, due in large part to the relatively well-funded efforts of payment processing companies including BitPay and Coinbase.

Despite the marked first-mover advantage of the Bitcoin Network over other digital assets, it is possible that an altcoin could become materially popular due to either a perceived or exposed shortcoming of the Bitcoin Network protocol that is not immediately addressed by the core developers of Bitcoin or a perceived advantage of an altcoin that includes features not incorporated into Bitcoin. If an altcoin obtains significant market share (either in market capitalization, mining power or use as a payment technology), this could reduce Bitcoin’s market share and have a negative impact on the demand for, and price of, bitcoins, which in turn, may materially and adversely affect the business, prospects or operations of the Super Crypto Mining, Inc. and the Company.

Microphase has a history of losses and our future profitability on a quarterly or annual basis is uncertain, which could have a harmful effect on our business and the value of our company.

    

During the past three fiscal years Microphase has incurred losses from operations. These losses are attributable to lower volumes of its products sold to major defense contractors partially as a result of the overall reduction in defense spending and sequestration by the U.S. Congress. As of June 30, 2017, Microphase had an accumulated deficit of approximately $18 million.  Since the financial crisis of 2008, Microphase has been significantly short of capital needed to acquire parts for production of its products to complete orders for such products. At times, Microphase has not had the cash available to make advance payments for the purchase of parts, and then, as a consequence, Microphase would not receive the parts from its vendors required to finish a customer order. This would then delay the delivery of products to customers, and would also delay recognition of the resulting revenues and the receipt of cash from the customer. Sometimes after experiencing a delay in delivery of an order from Microphase, the customer would not place its next order with Microphase, resulting in a loss of business.

    

 

Microphase’s future profitability depends upon many factors, including several that are beyond its control. These factors include, without limitation:

·	changes in the demand for ITS products and services;

·	loss of key customers or contracts;

·	the introduction of competitive products;

·	the failure to gain market acceptance of ITS new and existing products; and

·	the failure to successfully and cost effectively develop, introduce and market new products, services and product enhancements in a timely manner.

In addition, Microphase is incurring significant legal, accounting, and other expenses related to being a reporting company without there being a trading market for any of its securities. As a result of these expenditures, Microphase will have to generate and sustain increased revenue to achieve and maintain future profitability.

 

A large percentage of Microphase’s current revenue is derived from prime defense contractors to the U.S. government and its allies, and the loss of these relationships, a reduction in U.S. government funding or a change in U.S. government spending priorities or bidding processes could have an adverse impact on its business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. 

     

Microphase is highly dependent on sales to major defense contractors of the U.S. military and its allies, including Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, BAE Systems and SAAB. The percentages of its revenue that were derived from sales to these named major defense contractors and directly to the U.S. Government were 61.9% in fiscal 2017, 66.8% in fiscal 2016, 65.8% in fiscal 2015, 56.1% in fiscal 2014 and 48.4% in fiscal 2013. Therefore, any significant disruption or deterioration of Microphase’s relationship with any such major defense contractors or the U.S. Government could materially reduce its revenue.  In the twelve months ended June 30, 2017 there were three customers that accounted for more than 10% of sales:  BAE Systems, Saab and Aselsan.  In the twelve months ended June 30, 2016 there were two customers that accounted for more than 10% of sales: Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems. Microphase’s competitors continuously engage in efforts to expand their business relationships with the same major defense contractors and the U.S. Government and will continue these efforts in the future, and the U.S. Government may choose to use other contractors. Microphase expects that a majority of the business that it seeks will be awarded through competitive bidding. Microphase operates in highly competitive markets and its competitors have more extensive or more specialized engineering, manufacturing and marketing capabilities than Microphase does in many areas, and Microphase may not be able to continue to win competitively awarded contracts or to obtain task orders under multi-award contracts. Further, the competitive bidding process involves significant cost and managerial time to prepare bids and proposals for contracts that may not be awarded to Microphase, as well as the risk that Microphase may fail to accurately estimate the resources and costs required to fulfill any contract awarded to us. Following any contract award, Microphase may experience significant expense or delay, contract modification or contract rescission as a result of its competitors protesting or challenging contracts awarded to it in competitive bidding. Major defense contractors to whom Microphase supplies components for systems must compete with other major defense contractors (to which Microphase may not supply components) for military orders from the U.S. Government. In addition, Microphase competes with other policy needs, which may be viewed as more necessary, for limited resources and an ever-changing amount of available funding in the budget and appropriation process. Budget and appropriations decisions made by the U.S. Government are outside of Microphase control and have long-term consequences for its business. U.S. Government spending priorities and levels remain uncertain and difficult to predict and are affected by numerous factors, including until recently sequestration (automatic, across-the-board U.S. Government budgetary spending cuts), and the purchase of our products could be superseded by alternate arrangements. While the US defense budget was recently increased, there can be no assurance that this increase will be maintained for the foreseeable future. A change in U.S. Government spending priorities or an increase in non-procurement spending at the expense of our programs, or a reduction in total U.S. Government spending, could have material adverse consequences on Microphase’s future business.

    

 

Microphase’s U.S. government contracts may be terminated by the federal government at any time prior to their completion, which could lead to unexpected loss of sales and reduction in Microphase’s backlog.

Under the terms of Microphase’s U.S. government contracts, the U.S. government may unilaterally:

 

·	terminate or modify existing contracts;

·	reduce the value of existing contracts through partial termination; and

·	delay the payment of Microphase’s invoices by government payment offices.

 

The federal government can terminate or modify any of its contracts with Microphase or its prime contractors either for the federal government’s convenience, or if Microphase or its prime contractors default, by failing to perform under the terms of the applicable contract. A termination arising out of Microphase’s default could expose it to liability and have a material adverse effect on its ability to compete for future federal government contracts and subcontracts. If the federal government or its prime contractors terminate and/or materially modify any of Microphase’s contracts or if any applicable options are not exercised, Microphase’s failure to replace sales generated from such contracts would result in lower sales and would adversely affect its earnings, which could have a material adverse effect on Microphase’s business, results of operations and financial condition. Microphase’s backlog as of June 30, 2017 was approximately $4.0 million. Microphase’s backlog could be adversely affected if contracts are modified or terminated.

Microphase’s products with military applications are subject to export regulations, and compliance with these regulations may be costly.

Microphase is required to obtain export licenses before filling foreign orders for many of its products that have military or other governmental applications. United States Export Administration regulations control technology exports like its products for reasons of national security and compliance with foreign policy, to guarantee domestic reserves of products in short supply and, under certain circumstances, for the security of a destination country. Thus, any foreign sales of its products requiring export licenses must comply with these general policies. Compliance with these regulations is costly, and these regulations are subject to change, and any such change may require Microphase to improve its technologies, incur expenses or both in order to comply with such regulations.

 

Microphase depends on U.S. government contracts issued to major defense contractors, which often are only partially funded, subject to immediate termination, and heavily regulated and audited. The termination or failure to fund, or negative audit findings for, one or more of these contracts could have an adverse impact on Microphase’s business.

Over its lifetime, a U.S. Government program awarded to a major defense contractor may be implemented by the award of many different individual contracts and subcontracts. The funding of U.S. Government programs is subject to Congressional appropriations. Although multi-year contracts may be authorized and appropriated in connection with major procurements, Congress generally appropriates funds on a fiscal year basis. Procurement funds are typically made available for obligations over the course of one to three years. Consequently, programs often receive only partial funding initially, and additional funds are designated only as Congress authorizes further appropriations. The termination of funding for a U.S. Government program with respect to major defense contractors for which Microphase is a subcontractor would result in a loss of anticipated future revenue attributable to that program, which could have an adverse impact on its operations. In addition, the termination of, or failure to commit additional funds to, a program for which Microphase is a subcontractor could result in lost revenue and increase its overall costs of doing business.

 

Generally, U.S. Government contracts are subject to oversight audits by U.S. Government representatives. Such audits could result in adjustments to Microphase’s contract costs. Any costs found to be improperly allocated to a specific contract will not be reimbursed, and such costs already reimbursed must be refunded. Microphase has recorded contract revenues based on costs Microphase expect to realize upon final audit. However, Microphase does not know the outcome of any future audits and adjustments, and Microphase may be required to materially reduce its revenues or profits upon completion and final negotiation of audits. Negative audit findings could also result in termination of a contract, forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments, fines and suspension or debarment from U.S. Government contracting or subcontracting for a period of time.

 

 

In addition, U.S. Government contracts generally contain provisions permitting termination, in whole or in part, without prior notice at the U.S. Government’s convenience upon the payment only for work done and commitments made at the time of termination. Microphase can give no assurance that one or more of the U.S. Government contracts with a major defense contractor under which Microphase provides component products will not be terminated under these circumstances. Also, Microphase can give no assurance that it will be able to procure new contracts to offset the revenue or backlog lost as a result of any termination of its U.S. Government contracts. Because a significant portion of Microphase’s revenue is dependent on its performance and payment under its U.S. Government contracts, the loss of one or more large contracts could have a material adverse impact on its business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

 

Microphase’s government business also is subject to specific procurement regulations and other requirements. These requirements, though customary in U.S. Government contracts, increase its performance and compliance costs. In addition, these costs might increase in the future, thereby reducing Microphase’s margins, which could have an adverse effect on its business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Failure to comply with these regulations and requirements could lead to fines, penalties, repayments, or compensatory or treble damages, or suspension or debarment from U.S. Government contracting or subcontracting for a period of time. Among the causes for debarment are violations of various laws, including those related to procurement integrity, export control, U.S. Government security regulations, employment practices, protection of the environment, accuracy of records, proper recording of costs and foreign corruption. The termination of a U.S. Government contract or relationship as a result of any of these acts would have an adverse impact on Microphase’s operations and could have an adverse effect on its standing and eligibility for future U.S. Government contracts.

  

Microphase’s business could be negatively impacted by cybersecurity threats and other security threats and disruptions.

As a U.S. Government defense contractor, Microphase face certain security threats, including threats to its information technology infrastructure, attempts to gain access to its proprietary or classified information, threats to physical security, and domestic terrorism events. Microphase’s information technology networks and related systems are critical to the operation of its business and essential to its ability to successfully perform day-to-day operations. Microphase is also involved with information technology systems for certain customers and other third parties, which generally face similar security threats. Cybersecurity threats in particular, are persistent, evolve quickly and include, but are not limited to, computer viruses, attempts to access information, denial of service and other electronic security breaches. Microphase believes that it has implemented appropriate measures and controls and has invested in skilled information technology resources to appropriately identify threats and mitigate potential risks, but there can be no assurance that such actions will be sufficient to prevent disruptions to mission critical systems, the unauthorized release of confidential information or corruption of data. A security breach or other significant disruption involving these types of information and information technology networks and related systems could:

 

·	disrupt the proper functioning of these networks and systems and therefore its operations and/or those of certain of its customers;

·

result in the unauthorized access to, and destruction, loss, theft, misappropriation or release of, proprietary, confidential, sensitive or otherwise valuable information of Microphase or its customers, including trade secrets, which others could use to compete against Microphase or for disruptive, destructive or otherwise harmful purposes and outcomes;

·	compromise national security and other sensitive government functions;

·	require significant management attention and resources to remedy the damages that result;

·	subject Microphase to claims for breach of contract, damages, credits, penalties or termination; and

·	damage Microphase’s reputation with its customers (particularly agencies of the U.S. Government) and the public generally.

Any or all of the foregoing could have a negative impact on its business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

 

 

Microphase enters into fixed-price contracts that could subject it to losses in the event of cost overruns or a significant increase in inflation.

Microphase has a number of fixed-price contracts which allow it to benefit from cost savings but subject it to the risk of potential cost overruns, particularly for firm fixed-price contracts, because Microphase assumes the entire cost burden. If its initial estimates are incorrect, Microphase can lose money on these contracts. U.S. Government contracts can expose Microphase to potentially large losses because the U.S. Government can hold Microphase responsible for completing a project or, in certain circumstances, paying the entire cost of its replacement by another provider regardless of the size or foreseeability of any cost overruns that occur over the life of the contract. Because many of these contracts involve new technologies and applications, unforeseen events such as technological difficulties, fluctuations in the price of raw materials, problems with its suppliers and cost overruns, can result in the contractual price becoming less favorable or even unprofitable to Microphase. The U.S. and other countries also may experience a significant increase in inflation. A significant increase in inflation rates could have a significant adverse impact on the profitability of these contracts. Furthermore, if Microphase does not meet contract deadlines or specifications, Microphase may need to renegotiate contracts on less favorable terms, be forced to pay penalties or liquidated damages or suffer major losses if the customer exercises its right to terminate. In addition, some of its contracts have provisions relating to cost controls and audit rights, and if Microphase fails to meet the terms specified in those contracts Microphase may not realize their full benefits. Microphase’s results of operations are dependent on its ability to maximize its earnings from its contracts. Cost overruns could have an adverse impact on its financial results.

 

The listing of our common stock on the NYSE American is contingent on our compliance with the NYSE American’s conditions for continued listing. On December 18, 2015, we were notified by the NYSE American that we were no longer in compliance with the NYSE American continued listing standards because our reported stockholders' equity was below continued listing standards. The NYSE American requires that a listed company's stockholders' equity be $4.0 million or more if it has reported losses from continuing operations and/or net losses in three of its four most recent fiscal years. Subsequently, the NYSE American informed us that we are required to attain stockholders’ equity of $6.0 million or more because we experienced a loss for the year ended December 31, 2016.

 

Following submission of our compliance plan demonstrating how we intend to regain compliance with the continued listing standards, we were notified on March 9, 2016, that the NYSE American granted us a listing extension on the basis of our plan until June 19, 2017. We are subject to periodic review by NYSE American staff during the extension period. Failure to make progress consistent with the plan or to regain compliance with the continued listing standards by the end of the extension period could result in our common stock being delisted from the NYSE American.

  

On June 19, 2017, we filed a Form 8-K report with the Commission announcing that our Stockholders' Equity was approximately $6,409,000 on a pro-forma basis. In a letter dated June 20, 2017, the NYSE American notified us that we had successfully regained compliance with the NYSE American continued listing standards. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in light of our continue losses, there is no assurance that we will be able to continue to meet the NYSE American continued listing standard. Failure to meet the NYSE American listing requirement, we may be subject to delisting by the NYSE American. In the event our common stock is no longer listed for trading on the NYSE American, our trading volume and share price may decrease and we may experience further difficulties in raising capital which could materially affect our operations and financial results.

 

On November 20, 2017, we received a letter from NYSE Regulation indicating that the NYSE American had concluded that we failed to comply with Section 401(a) of the NYSE American’s Company Guide, which section requires that a listed company “make immediate public disclosure of all material information concerning its affairs ...” The letter, which relates to our disclosure of certain personnel changes to our board of directors and officers, provided that such letter constituted a warning letter issued to the Company pursuant to Section 1009(a)(i) of the NYSE American Company Guide. On October 12, 2017, we filed a Form 8-K that disclosed that certain personnel changes to our board of directors and executive officers were effective October 6, 2017. On November 6, 2017, we filed an amendment to the above referenced Form 8-K that disclosed that the personnel changes had not in fact occurred. After discussion with the NYSE American, on November 8, 2017, we filed a subsequent Form 8-K that further clarified that we had determined to rescind the personnel changes as of October 23, 2017. In that Form 8-K, we provided additional disclosure explaining why the personnel changes were not undertaken.

 

 

On November 29, 2017, we notified the NYSE American, LLC that we were no longer in compliance with Rule 801(h) of the NYSE American Company Guide because, as a smaller reporting company, our Board of Directors was not comprised of at least 50% independent directors. On November 28, 2017, our Board of Directors approved the issuance of cash compensation, and 200,000 shares of common stock and warrants to purchase 1,000,000 shares of common stock subject to vesting and shareholder approval, to Mr. William Horne, a director of the Company, for services. As a result of this compensation, Mr. Horne may not be deemed independent within the meaning of Section 803A(2) of the NYSE American Company Guide. Mr. Horne has resigned from the audit committee of the Board of Directors. Robert Smith has been appointed as chair of the audit committee. On December 8, 2017, our board of directors rescinded the equity compensation granted to Mr. Horne.  We believe that we are therefore presently in compliance with Rule 801(h) of the NYSE American Company Guide.

Our common stock price is volatile.

Our common stock is listed on the NYSE American. In the past, our trading price has fluctuated widely, depending on many factors that may have little to do with our operations or business prospects. The exercise of outstanding options and warrants may adversely affect our stock price and a shareholder’s percentage of ownership. As of December 31, 2017, we had outstanding options to purchase an aggregate of 3,842,500 shares of common stock, with a weighted average exercise price of $0.95 per share, exercisable at prices ranging from $0.57 to $1.69 per share and warrants to purchase up 4,388,868 shares of common stock, with a weighted average exercise price of $0.74 per share, at exercise prices ranging from $0.01 to $1.10 per share.

 

In addition, we have contractually agreed to register shares of common stock, and common stock underlying outstanding warrants and convertible debt in connection with private placement of our securities. Our shares of common stock are thinly traded. Therefore, the resale of a large number of shares of common stock and common stock underlying warrants and convertible debt by the selling stockholders may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

Volatility in our common stock price may subject us to securities litigation.

Stock markets, in general, have experienced in recent months, and continue to experience, significant price and volume volatility, and the market price of our common stock may continue to be subject to similar market fluctuations unrelated to our operating performance or prospects. This increased volatility, coupled with depressed economic conditions, could continue to have a depressing effect on the market price of our common stock. The following factors, many of which are beyond our control, may influence our stock price:

 

 

In addition, the securities markets have, from time to time, experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that are not related to the operating performance of particular companies. Any of these factors could result in large and sudden changes in the volume and trading price of our common stock and could cause our stockholders to incur substantial losses. In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a company’s securities, stockholders have often instituted securities class action litigation against that company. If we were involved in a class action suit or other securities litigation, it would divert the attention of our senior management, require us to incur significant expense and, whether or not adversely determined, have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

 

 

We have a substantial number of convertible notes, warrants, options and preferred stock outstanding that could affect our price.

Due to a number of financings, we have contractually agreed to register with the Commission shares of common stock, and common stock underlying outstanding warrants and convertible debt in connection with private placements of our securities. The potential resale at the same time of a large number of shares of common stock and common stock underlying warrants and convertible debt by the selling stockholders may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

The rights of the holders of common stock may be impaired by the potential issuance of preferred stock.

Our certificate of incorporation gives our board of directors the right to create new series of preferred stock. As a result, the board of directors may, without stockholder approval, issue preferred stock with voting, dividend, conversion, liquidation or other rights which could adversely affect the voting power and equity interest of the holders of common stock. Preferred stock, which could be issued with the right to more than one vote per share, could be utilized as a method of discouraging, delaying or preventing a change of control. The possible impact on takeover attempts could adversely affect the price of our common stock. Although we have no present intention to issue any shares of preferred stock or to create a series of preferred stock, we may issue such shares in the future.

The requirements of being a public company may strain our resources, divert management’s attention and affect our ability to attract and retain qualified board members.

We are a public company and subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The Exchange Act requires, among other things, that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our business and financial condition. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls for financial reporting. For example, Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that our management report on the effectiveness of our internal controls structure and procedures for financial reporting. Section 404 compliance may divert internal resources and will take a significant amount of time and effort to complete. If we fail to maintain compliance under Section 404, or if in the future management determines that our internal control over financial reporting are not effective as defined under Section 404, we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the NYSE American should we in the future be listed on this market, the Commission, or other regulatory authorities. Furthermore, investor perceptions of our company may suffer, and this could cause a decline in the market price of our common stock. Any failure of our internal controls could have a material adverse effect on our stated results of operations and harm our reputation. If we are unable to implement these changes effectively or efficiently, it could harm our operations, financial reporting or financial results and could result in an adverse opinion on internal controls from our independent auditors. We may need to hire a number of additional employees with public accounting and disclosure experience in order to meet our ongoing obligations as a public company, particularly if we become fully subject to Section 404 and its auditor attestation requirements, which will increase costs. Our management team and other personnel will need to devote a substantial amount of time to new compliance initiatives and to meeting the obligations that are associated with being a public company, which may divert attention from other business concerns, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

 

If we fail to comply with the rules under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 related to accounting controls and procedures, or if we discover material weaknesses and deficiencies in our internal control and accounting procedures, our stock price could decline significantly and raising capital could be more difficult.

If we fail to comply with the rules under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 related to disclosure controls and procedures, or, if we discover material weaknesses and other deficiencies in our internal control and accounting procedures, our stock price could decline significantly and raising capital could be more difficult. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires annual management assessments of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. If material weaknesses or significant deficiencies are discovered or if we otherwise fail to achieve and maintain the adequacy of our internal control, we may not be able to ensure that we can conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal controls over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Moreover, effective internal controls are necessary for us to produce reliable financial reports and are important to helping prevent financial fraud. If we cannot provide reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, our business and operating results could be harmed, investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information, and the trading price of our common stock could drop significantly.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or if they change their recommendations regarding our stock adversely, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or our business. Our research coverage by industry and financial analysts is currently limited. Even if our analyst coverage increases, if one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our stock, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.

The elimination of monetary liability against our directors, officers and employees under  law and the existence of indemnification rights for or obligations to our directors, officers and employees may result in substantial expenditures by us and may discourage lawsuits against our directors, officers and employees.

Our certificate of incorporation contains a provision permitting us to eliminate the personal liability of our directors to us and our stockholders for damages for the breach of a fiduciary duty as a director or officer to the extent provided by Delaware law. We may also have contractual indemnification obligations under any future employment agreements with our officers. The foregoing indemnification obligations could result in us incurring substantial expenditures to cover the cost of settlement or damage awards against directors and officers, which we may be unable to recoup. These provisions and the resulting costs may also discourage us from bringing a lawsuit against directors and officers for breaches of their fiduciary duties, and may similarly discourage the filing of derivative litigation by our stockholders against our directors and officers even though such actions, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders.

We do not anticipate paying dividends on our common stock and, accordingly, shareholders must rely on stock appreciation for any return on their investment.

We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our common stock and do not expect to do so in the foreseeable future. The declaration of dividends is subject to the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on various factors, including our operating results, financial condition, future prospects and any other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors. You should not rely on an investment in our company if you require dividend income from your investment in our company. The success of your investment will likely depend entirely upon any future appreciation of the market price of our common stock, which is uncertain and unpredictable. There is no guarantee that our common stock will appreciate in value.

ITEM 1B.

UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS.

Not applicable.

 

ITEM 2.

PROPERTIES

Our corporate headquarters utilize 12,396 square foot of leased office, engineering, laboratory, and warehouse space in Fremont, California. Our headquarter lease commenced on November 1, 2012 and expires on June 30, 2019. The annual base rent under the lease, payable on a monthly basis, increases during the term of the lease from approximately $138,000 during the first year to approximately $157,000 during the final year. The lease also provides for one option to renew for a term of five years.

In addition, we lease 33,361 square-feet of other space domestically that includes office, engineering, laboratory and warehouse space in both California and Connecticut. The annual base rent under these leases, payable on a monthly basis, is approximately $447,000 during 2018. These leases expire between May 2018 and May 2026.

We also lease facilities internationally. In September, 2010, our wholly-owned subsidiary, DPL, entered into a fifteen-year lease for its 25,000 square-foot facility in Salisbury, United Kingdom, where it designs, develops, manufactures, markets and distributes commercial and military power products for the European market. Sales and service support staff for its European network of distributors are located within the building together with other functions, such as engineering and administration. DPL’s rent expense is approximately $13,000 per month, and DPL has the option to cancel the lease after ten years.

 

We currently anticipate that the current leased space will be sufficient to support our current and foreseen future needs.

ITEM 3.

LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

None.

ITEM 4.

MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not applicable.

PART II

ITEM 5.

MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Market Information

 

 

Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2017
		High				Low
First Quarter		$	1.75			$	0.50
Second Quarter		$	1.05			$	0.40
Third Quarter		$	0.96			$	0.50
Fourth Quarter		$	5.95			$	0.51
First Quarter  of 2018		$	3.50			$	0.80
Second Quarter of 2018 through April 13, 2018		$	1.50			$	0.74

Record Holders

As of April 13, 2018, 43,562,860 shares of our common stock were issued and outstanding and were owned by approximately 84 holders of record. A number of holders of our common stock are “street name” or beneficial holders whose shares of record are held by banks, brokers, and other financial institutions.

Dividend Policy

We have not declared or paid any cash dividends since our inception, and we do not intend to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. The declaration of dividends in the future, if any, will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend upon our earnings, capital requirements, and financial position.

Equity Compensation Information

 

The following table summarizes information about our equity compensation plans as of December 31, 2017.

(1)

Includes warrants to purchase 317,460 of common stock at an exercise price of $0.01 per share of common stock that were issued to Mr. Kohn and approved the Company’s stockholders in December 2017.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

During the Year Ended December 31, 2016

On November 15, 2016, the Company entered into subscription agreements (the “2016 Subscription Agreements”) with nine accredited investors. Pursuant to the terms of the 2016 Subscription Agreements, the Company sold 901,666 units at $0.60 for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $541, which was used for general operating expenses. Each unit consists of one share of common stock and one warrant to purchase one share of common stock at an exercise price of $0.80. These securities were sold in reliance upon the exemption provided by Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act and the safe harbor of Rule 506 under Regulation D promulgated under the Securities Act.

 

During the Year Ended December 31, 2017

Between February 16, 2017 and February 23, 2017, the Company issued 666,667 shares of its common stock, an extinguishment price of $0.60 per share, for the cancellation of $400 in demand promissory notes.

On March 8, 2017, the Company issued an aggregate of 12,549 shares of its common stock as payment for services to a consultant.  The shares were valued at $10, an average of $0.80 per share.

On March 15, 2017, Company entered into a subscription agreement with a related party for the sale of 500,000 shares of common stock at $0.60 per share for the aggregate purchase price of $300.

On April 5, 2017, the Company issued 360,002 shares of its common stock, at a price of $0.75 per share, for the cancellation of $270 in demand promissory notes.

Between May 9, 2017 and June 18, 2017, the Company issued an aggregate of 956,153 shares of its common stock as payment for services to its consultant.  The shares were valued at $498, an average of $0.52 per share.

On July 7, 2017, the Company entered into an asset purchase agreement to acquire the intellectual property of Coolisys.com, in consideration for, in part, 50,000 shares of common stock. The seller of the intellectual property and purchaser of the common stock was an accredited investor.

On June 28, 2017, the Company issued 189,091 shares of its common stock, at a price of $0.55 per share, for the cancellation of a 7% convertible promissory note in the principal amount of $104.

On June 28, 2017, the holders of $55 of in short-term loans agreed to cancel their notes for the purchase of 100,001 shares of the Digital Power’s common stock at a price of $0.55 per share.

On July 24, 2017, we entered into subscription agreements with six investors, and on July 25, 2017 we entered into a securities purchase agreement with an institutional investor, under which we agreed to issue and sell in the aggregate 851,363 shares of common stock to the investors at $0.55 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $468. Of the aggregate purchase price of $468, $445 was paid in cash and $23 was in consideration for the cancellation of debt of the Company. The company granted warrants to purchase 109,090 shares of common stock to two of the investors that entered into the subscription agreements at $0.75 per share. In a concurrent private placement, we sold to the institutional investor warrants to purchase an aggregate of 163,636 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price equal to $0.55 per share.

 

On July 28, 2017, we entered into an exchange agreement with an institutional investor who was the owner of (i) a 7% Convertible Note in the principal amount of $125 and a warrant dated April 17, 2017 to purchase 83,334 shares of our common stock at $0.90. Under the terms of the exchange agreement, we agreed to exchange the 7% Convertible Note for three new promissory notes in the principal amounts of $110 due August 1, 2017; $35 due August 1, 2017; and $34 due August 8, 2017 (individually, an “Exchange Note” and collectively, the “Exchange Notes”) and to exchange the prior warrant for a new warrant to purchase 83,334 shares of common stock at $0.55 per share.

 

Concurrent with entering into this exchange agreement, the institutional investor entered into a subscription agreement under which we issued and sold in a registered direct offering 200,000 shares of common stock at $0.55 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $110. The 200,000 shares of common stock were purchased through the cancellation of the Exchange Note in the principal amount of $110. In addition, in a concurrent private placement, the institutional investor entered into a separate securities purchase agreement under which we issued and sold 63,600 shares of common stock at $0.55 per share for an aggregate of purchase price of $35. The 63,600 shares of common stock were purchased through the cancellation of the Exchange Note in the principal amount of $35. Further, we issued a warrant to purchase 120,000 shares of common stock at $0.55 per share.

Between August 21, 2017 and September 5, 2017, the Company issued an aggregate of 680,645 shares of its common stock as payment for services to its consultants.  The shares were valued at $424, an average of $0.62 per share.

 

On September 9, 2017, the Company approved the issuance of 100,000 shares of our common stock to Spartan Capital for capital advisory services.  Spartan Capital is an accredited investor. The shares of common stock have yet to be issued by the Company.

On October 5, 2017, Ault & Company purchased 75,000 shares of our common stock at $0.60 per share and a warrant to purchase up to 75,000 shares of our common stock at $0.60 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $45. These shares and warrants have yet to be issued by the Company.  Ault & Company is controlled by Mr. Milton Ault, our Executive Chairman.

Between October 3, 2017 and December 28, 2017, the Company issued an aggregate of 612,000 shares of its common stock as payment for services to its consultants.  The shares were valued at $791, an average of $1.29 per share.

On October 18, 2017, the Company entered into subscription agreements with five investors, under which we agreed to issue and sell in the aggregate 452,239 shares of common stock to the investors at $0.67 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $303. $210 of the purchase price was paid in cash and $93 was paid through the cancellation of debt incurred by the Company.

 

On November 2, 2017, in conjunction with the securities purchase agreement to sell the November 5% Convertible Note in the principal amount of $1,111, the Company issued 300,000 shares of restricted common stock to the institutional investor.

On November 7, 2017, the Company entered into subscription agreements with investors under which the Company agreed to issue and sell in the aggregate 725,000 shares of common stock to the investors at $0.60 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $435. $280 of the aggregate purchase price was paid in cash and $155 was paid through the cancellation of debt incurred by the Company.

 

Between November 27, 2017 and December 28, 2017, the Company issued a total of 1,871,864 shares of its common stock upon the cash and cashless exercise of warrants to purchase an aggregate of 2,113,465 shares of its common stock. These warrants were issued between November 2016 and August 2017 in conjunction with various common stock and debt financings. The Company received cash of $642 as a result of these warrant exercises.

During the period from November 27, 2017 to December 6, 2017, the entire $530 of principal on the Convertible Note was satisfied through the issuance of 963,636 shares of the Company’s common.

On December 4, 2017, in conjunction with the securities purchase agreement to sell the 5% Convertible Note in the principal amount of $550, the Company issued 150,000 shares of restricted common stock to the institutional investor.

Between December 4, 2017 and December 22, 2017, the Company issued a total of 361,458 shares of its common stock upon the cash and cashless exercise of options to purchase an aggregate of 363,500 shares of its common stock. These options were issued pursuant to the Company’s Plans, as described in greater detail under Item 11 below. The Company received cash of $557 as a result of these option exercises.

On December 5, 2017, the Company entered into subscription agreements with investors for the sale of 640,000 shares of common stock at $1.25 per share for the aggregate purchase price of $800,000. The direct offering closed December 13, 2017.

On December 5, 2017, the Company entered into an exchange agreement with several accredited investors for the cancellation of $690 in outstanding principal on the 10% Short-Term Notes. In December 2016, Microphase issued $705 in 10% Short-Term Notes. The 10% Short-Term Notes were due one year from the date of issuance. The amount due pursuant to the 10% Short-Term Notes is equal to the entire original principal amount multiplied by 125% (the “Loan Premium”) plus accrued interest. In exchange for the cancellation of $690 of outstanding principal and $250 of accrued loan premiums and interest owed to the investors by Microphase Corporation, the Company entered into the exchange agreement pursuant to which the Company issued an aggregate of 1,523,852 shares of common stock and warrants to purchase 380,466 shares of common stock with an exercise price of $1.10 per share of common stock.

 

On December 5, 2017, the Company entered into an exchange agreement with WT Johnson, pursuant to which the Company issued to WT Johnson convertible promissory notes in the principal amount of $2,268. During December 2017, the Company issued 600,000 shares of its common stock upon the conversion of the promissory notes.

On December 13, 2017 and December 14, 2017, the entire $1,111 of principal on the November 5% Convertible Note was satisfied through the issuance of 1,851,667 shares of the Company’s common stock.

On December 28, 2017, principal and accrued interest of $198 and $5, respectively, on the 12% Convertible Note was satisfied through the issuance of 368,760 shares of the Company’s common stock.

During December 2017, the entire principal and accrued interest of $880 and $54, respectively, on the 10% Convertible Notes was satisfied through the issuance of 1,557,417 shares of the Company’s common stock.

These securities were sold in reliance upon the exemption provided by Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act and the safe harbor of Rule 506 under Regulation D promulgated under the Securities Act.

Issuer Repurchases of Equity Securities

Not applicable.

ITEM 6.

SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA.

As a Smaller Reporting Company, we are electing scaled disclosure reporting obligations and therefore are not required to provide the information requested by this Item.

ITEM 7.

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include statements regarding, among others, (a) our expectations about possible business combinations, (b) our growth strategies, (c) our future financing plans, and (d) our anticipated needs for working capital. Forward-looking statements, which involve assumptions and describe our future plans, strategies, and expectations, are generally identifiable by use of the words “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “approximate,” “estimate,” “believe,” “intend,” “plan,” “budget,” “could,” “forecast,” “might,” “predict,” “shall” or “project,” or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. This information may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements. These statements may be found in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

 

Forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding our business, potential target businesses, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, by their nature, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks, and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, without limitation, the risks outlined under “Risk Factors” in this 10-K, changes in local, regional, national or global political, economic, business, competitive, market (supply and demand) and regulatory conditions and the following:

·

Adverse economic conditions;

·

Our ability to effectively execute our business plan;

·

Inability to raise sufficient additional capital to operate our business;

·

Our ability to manage our expansion, growth and operating expenses;

·

Our ability to evaluate and measure our business, prospects and performance metrics;

·

Our ability to compete and succeed in highly competitive and evolving industries;

 

 

·

Our ability to respond and adapt to changes in technology and customer behavior;

·

Our ability to protect our intellectual property and to develop, maintain and enhance a strong brand; and

·

Other specific risks referred to in the section entitled “Risk Factors”.

We caution you therefore that you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements as statements of historical fact or as guarantees or assurances of future performance. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or other information contained herein unless required by law.

Information regarding market and industry statistics contained in this Annual Report is included based on information available to us that we believe is accurate. It is generally based on academic and other publications that are not produced for purposes of securities offerings or economic analysis. Forecasts and other forward-looking information obtained from these sources are subject to the same qualifications and the additional uncertainties accompanying any estimates of future market size, revenue and market acceptance of products and services. Except as required by U.S. federal securities laws, we have no obligation to update forward-looking information to reflect actual results or changes in assumptions or other factors that could affect those statements. See the section entitled “Risk Factors” for a more detailed discussion of risks and uncertainties that may have an impact on our future results.

The amounts reported within our “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” are in U.S. dollars in thousands, except shares and per share data.

Recent Developments

 

On September 18, 2017, the Board of Directors of Digital Power Corporation voted unanimously to recommend a number of proposals to be voted upon at its annual meeting (the “Meeting”), including a proposal to approve a change in domicile from California to Delaware (the “Reincorporation”). On December 27, 2017, Digital Power Corporation approved the Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) providing for the merger (the “Merger”) of Digital Power Corporation with and into its wholly owned subsidiary DPW Holdings, Inc. (the “Company” or “DPW”). Digital Power Corporation filed the Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A related to the Meeting on November 17, 2017, in which each proposal was described in detail. Each proposal, including the one approving the Reincorporation, was approved at the Meeting, which was held on December 28, 2017.

 

The Reincorporation was consummated on December 29, 2017 pursuant to the Merger Agreement, whereby Digital Power Corporation merged with and into the Company with the Company as the surviving corporation operating as DPW Holdings, Inc.  In connection with the Reincorporation the Company and Digital Power Corporation filed: (i) a certificate of merger (the “Certificate of Merger”) with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware, and (ii) the Certificate of Merger with the Secretary of State of the State of California.  Following the Merger, the Company’s corporate existence is governed by the laws of the State of Delaware and the Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws of DPW Holdings, Inc. (the “Delaware Certificate” and the “Delaware Bylaws,” respectively).

 

Upon consummation of the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement and resulting Reincorporation, the daily business operations of the Company continued as they were conducted by Digital Power Corporation immediately prior to the Reincorporation and the officers and directors of Digital Power Corporation became the officers and directors of the Company, except that Milton C. Ault III become the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Amos Kohn remained as its President.

On January 25, 2018, we issued two 5% promissory notes, each in the principal face amount of $2,500 for an aggregate debt of $5,000 to two institutional investors. The proceeds from the two promissory notes were used to purchase 1,000 Antminer S9s manufactured by Bitmain Technologies, Inc. in connection with our mining operations. We received delivery of the Miners on February 1, 2018. On March 27, 2018, we paid the principal and accrued interest on each of the 5% promissory notes.

On February 27, 2018, we entered into a sales agreement with H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC (“HCW”) to sell shares of our common stock, having an aggregate offering price of up to $50 million from time to time, through an “at the market offering” program (the “ATM Offering”) under which HCW will act as sales agent. As of April 13, 2018, we had received net proceeds of $7,121 through the sale of 6,648,538 shares of our common stock through the ATM Offering. The offer and sale of the shares through the ATM Offering are made pursuant to our effective “shelf” registration statement on Form S-3 and an accompanying base prospectus contained therein (Registration Statement No. 333-222132) filed with the SEC on December 18, 2017, amended on January 8, 2018, and declared effective by the SEC on January 11, 2018, and a prospectus supplement related to the ATM Offering, dated February 27, 2018.

 

GENERAL

We are a growth company seeking to increase our revenues through acquisitions.  Our strategy reflects our management and Board’s current philosophy which we began implementing upon the change in control that was completed in September 2016. Our acquisition and development target strategy include companies that have developed a “new way of doing business” in mature, well-developed industries experiencing changes due to new technology; companies that may become profitable or more profitable through efficiency and reduction of costs; companies that are related to our core business in the commercial and defense industries; and companies that will enhance our overall revenues.  It is our goal to substantially increase our gross revenues in the near future.

We were originally a solution-driven organization that designs, develops, manufactures and sells high-grade customized and flexible power system solutions for the medical, military, telecom and industrial markets.  Although we intend to seek growth through acquisitions, we will continue to focus on high-grade and custom product designs for the commercial, medical and military/defense markets, where customers demand high density, high efficiency and ruggedized products to meet the harshest and/or military mission critical operating conditions.

We have operations located in Europe through our wholly-owned subsidiary, Digital Power Limited (“DP Limited”), Salisbury, England, which operates under the brand name of “Gresham Power Electronics” (“Gresham”).  DP Limited designs, manufactures and sells power products and system solutions mainly for the European marketplace, including power conversion, power distribution equipment, DC/AC (Direct Current/Active Current) inverters and UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) products. Our European defense business is specialized in the field of naval power distribution products.

On November 30, 2016, DPW Holdings formed Digital Power Lending, LLC (“DP Lending”), a wholly-owned subsidiary. DP Lending is engaged in providing commercial loans to companies throughout the United States to provide them with operating capital to finance the growth of their businesses. The loans will primarily be short-term, ranging from six to twelve months, but may be of longer duration.

On June 2, 2017, DPW Holdings purchased 56.4% of the outstanding equity interests of Microphase Corporation (“Microphase”). Microphase is a design-to-manufacture original equipment manufacturer (“OEM”) industry leader delivering world-class radio frequency (“RF”) and microwave filters, diplexers, multiplexers, detectors, switch filters, integrated assemblies and detector logarithmic video amplifiers (“DLVA”) to the military, aerospace and telecommunications industries. Microphase is headquartered in Shelton, Connecticut.

On April 25, 2017, DPW Holdings formed Coolisys Technologies, Inc. (“Coolisys”), a wholly-owned subsidiary. The Company intends to operate its existing businesses in the customized and flexible power system solutions for the medical, military, telecom and industrial markets, other than the European markets which are primarily served by DP Limited, in Coolisys.

Further, on September 1, 2017, Coolisys acquired all of the outstanding membership interests in Power-Plus Technical Distributors, LLC, a California limited liability company (“Power-Plus”). Power-Plus is an industrial distributor of value added power supply solutions, UPS systems, fans, filters, line cords, and other power-related components. In addition to its current business, Power-Plus will serve as an extended sales organization for the Company’s overall flexible power system solutions.

Foreign Currency Fluctuations

Our wholly-owned subsidiary, DPL, operates using the United Kingdom pound sterling. Therefore, we are subject to monetary fluctuations between the U.S. dollar and the United Kingdom pound sterling. The financial statements of the subsidiary which are included in our consolidated financial statements have been translated into U.S. dollars. For the year ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, we recorded a foreign currency translation gain (loss) of $152 and ($362), respectively, as reported in our consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss).

 

 

Results of Operations

 

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2017 AND 2016

 

The following table summarizes the results of our operations for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016.

 

Revenues

 

Our revenues increased by $2,405 or 31.7% to $10,001 for the year ended December 31, 2017, from $7,596 for the year ended December 31, 2016. The increase in revenue was primarily due to our acquisition of 56.4% of the outstanding equity interests of Microphase on June 2, 2017, combined with our acquisition of all of the outstanding equity interests of Power-Plus on September 1, 2017. Revenues generated by Microphase and Power-Plus during the year ended December 31, 2017, were $2,796 and $798, respectively. Excluding revenues that were generated by our recent acquisitions of Microphase and Power-Plus, the Company generated revenues of $6,407, which represented a decrease of $1,189. As discussed below, the decrease of $1,189 from the year ended December 31, 2016, was primarily due to a decrease in revenues from our European operations.

 

Revenues from our U.S. operations increased by $3,338, or 73.3%, to $7,890 for the year ended December 31, 2017, from $4,552 for the year ended December 31, 2016. As previously noted, our consolidated revenues include $3,594 in revenues generated from our recent acquisitions of Microphase and Power-Plus. If we had not closed on these acquisitions, then revenues from our U.S. operations would have been $4,296, a decrease of 5.6%. The decrease in revenues from our U.S. operations is attributed to a slight decrease in sales of our legacy products.

Revenues from DP Limited decreased by $933 to $2,111 for the year ended December 31, 2017, from $3,044 for the year ended December 31, 2016, a decrease of 30.7%. The decrease was primarily attributable to a decrease of military and commercial products sales and the impact of a weakening of the British Pound and Euro against the USD. The decline in commercial product sales was mainly attributed to standard commodity products. The decline in military product sales was attributed to technical changes in the design of one of our development contracts.

 

Revenues, related party

During the year ended December 31, 2017, we recognized $174 in revenues resulting from our relationship with MTIX Limited, a company formed under the laws of England and Wales (“MTIX”).  MTIX was acquired by Avalanche on August 22, 2017 and is therefore deemed to be a related party.  In March 2017, the Company was awarded a 3-year, $50 million purchase order by MTIX to manufacture, install and service the Multiplex Laser Surface Enhancement (“MLSE”) plasma-laser system. Management believes that the MLSE purchase order will be a source of revenue and generate significant cash flows for the Company. However, at December 31, 2017, the $174 in revenues had not yet been received and was reflected on the financial statements as accounts receivable, related party.

Gross Margins

    

Gross margins increased to 37.8% for the year ended December 31, 2017 compared to 35.6% for the year ended December 31, 2016. The increase in gross margins was mainly attributable to the $174 increase in revenue from MTIX, a related party. If we had not recognized $174 in revenue from MTIX, then our gross margins for the year ended December 31, 2017 would have been 36.8%. The increase in gross margins from 35.6% to 36.8% is mainly attributable to the increase in sales of our commercial products sold in our U.S. operations, which have greater gross margins, combined with the decrease in sales from our European operations.

   

Engineering and Product Development

 

Engineering and product development expenses increased by $411 to $1,120 for the year ended December 31, 2017 from $709 for the year ended December 31, 2016. The increase is partly attributed to our acquisition of Microphase, which reported $294 in engineering and product development expenses. The remaining increase is primarily attributed to a $72 increase in personnel costs directly attributed to engineering and product development at the Company’s U.S. based operations and a $52 increase in safety license fees paid to third parties for products developed during the current year. During the fourth quarter of 2016, as part of our growth plan, we hired a new Head of Engineering and Technology, a highly-compensated position.

Selling and Marketing

 

Selling and marketing expenses were $1,721 for the year ended December 31, 2017 compared to $916 for the year ended December 31, 2016, an increase of $805. Our acquisition of Microphase and Power-Plus accounted for $97 and $300, respectively, of the increase in selling and marketing expenses. The remaining increase of $408 is attributed to an increase in personnel costs directly attributed to sales and marketing personnel at our U.S. based operations. Beginning in December 2016 and throughout the quarter ended March 31, 2017, we augmented our sales and marketing team with the addition of a Vice President of Business Development and two regional sales managers. During the year ended December 31, 2016, the services of our President were reported within selling and marketing expenses due to the significant amount of time in which he devoted to the sales process. The increase in the headcount of our sales and marketing team allowed our President to spend the majority of his time on general corporate matters related to our restructuring and expansion. As such, during the year ended December 31, 2017, the salary of our President, which is $300 per year, was reported within general and administrative expenses. The increase in selling and marketing expenses is attributed to the increase in salaries and benefits and travel related costs for the three new sales and marketing positions and partially offset by the allocation of our President’s salary to general and administrative expense.

General and Administrative

 

General and administrative expenses were $6,992 for the year ended December 31, 2017 compared to $2,300 for the year ended December 31, 2016, an increase of $4,692. Our acquisition of Microphase accounted for $964 of the increase in general and administrative expenses. The adjusted increase of $3,728 from the comparative prior period was mainly due to higher stock-based compensation expenses, an increase in legal and audit costs, an increase in investor relationship costs and hiring of additional consultants to build an infrastructure in anticipation of our future growth and the allocation of our Chief Executive Officer’s salary to general and administrative expense. The remaining increase in general and administrative expenses is due to various costs, none of which are significant individually.

 

    

·

In aggregate, we incurred $1,831 of stock-based compensation during the year ended December 31, 2017. Of this amount, $1,598 was from issuances of equity-based awards pursuant to our Plans and $233 was from stock, options and warrants which were issued outside the Plans. It has been our policy to allocate the majority of stock-based compensation to general and administrative expense. During the year ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, and inclusive of equity-based awards issued outside the Plans, we recorded $1,682 and $516, respectively, of stock-based compensation in general and administrative expense.

 

·

We experienced an aggregate increase of $1,088 in audit and legal fees due to an overall increase in the operations conducted and the level of complexity and significant number of the transactions entered into during the year ended December 31, 2017.

 

·

Beginning during the quarter ended December 31, 2016, we spent significant effort on expanding our investor base and on hiring additional consultants to assist building an infrastructure to support our anticipated growth. As a result, we experienced an increase of $882 in costs attributed to investor relations and other consulting fees.

 

·

Finally, during the year ended December 31, 2016, our Chief Executive Officer’s salary was reflected in selling and marketing expenses. As discussed above, during the year ended December 31, 2017, we recorded the salary and benefits of our Chief Executive Officer to general and administrative expense.

 

Interest (expense) income, net

Interest expense, net was $4,990 for the year ended December 31, 2017 compared to income of $77 for the year ended December 31, 2016. The increase in interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2017 is primarily related to the amortization of debt discount, in the aggregate amount of $4,688, resulting from the issuance of warrants in conjunction with the sale of debt and equity instruments of $10,589. During the year ended December 31, 2017, as a result of these issuances, non-cash interest expense of $4,688 was recorded from the amortization of debt discount and debt financing costs. The remaining increase in interest expense, net, was due to an increase in the amount of the Company’s total borrowings. Interest expense was partially offset by interest income and the accretion of original issue discount pursuant to the Loan and Security Agreement entered into on September 6, 2017, between the Company and AVLP (“AVLP Loan Agreement”) of $704.

Current and Deferred Income Taxes

 

The Company has made the decision to fully reserve its net deferred tax assets until such time as profitable operations are achieved. As a result of this decision, we recorded an income tax benefit during the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, of $78 and $20, respectively. During the year ended December 31, 2017, the income tax benefit was the result of the recognition of net deferred tax liabilities from our acquisition of Microphase.

 

The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the existence, or generation, of taxable income in the periods when those temporary differences and net operating loss carryovers are deductible. We considered the scheduled reversal of deferred tax liabilities, taxes paid in carryover years, projected future taxable income, available tax planning strategies, and other factors in making this assessment. Based on available evidence, we believe it is less likely than not that all of the deferred tax assets will be realized. Accordingly, we have established a 100% valuation allowance of $4,009.

Operating Loss

         The Company recorded an operating loss of $5,983 for the year ended December 31, 2017 compared to an operating loss of $1,219 for the year ended December 31, 2016. The increase in operating loss is mostly attributable from the increase of general and administrative expenses.

Net Loss

    

For the foregoing reasons, our net loss for the year ended December 31, 2017, was $10,895 compared to a net loss of $1,122 for the year ended December 31, 2016. After taking into consideration the loss attributable to the non-controlling interest of the minority shareholders of Microphase of $279 and preferred dividends of $638, net loss available to common shareholders during the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, was $11,254 and $1,122, respectively.

  

As reflected in our consolidated statement of cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, our reported net loss is comprised of non-cash charges of $6,333 and 736, respectively. A summary of these non-cash charges is as follows:

 

Other comprehensive income (loss)

 

Other comprehensive income (loss) was $5,323 and ($362), respectively, for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016. Other comprehensive income for the year ended December 31, 2017, which increased our equity, reflects the impact of the weakening of the British Pound on the equity of DP Limited combined with unrealized gains in our investments in marketable securities, primarily in the warrants that we received as a result of our investment in Avalanche International, Corp, a related party. During the year ended December 31, 2016, the effect of the foreign currency adjustment from the strengthening of the British Pound was the only component of our other comprehensive loss of $362

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

 

On December 31, 2017, we had cash and cash equivalents of $1,478. This compares with cash and cash equivalents of $996 at December 31, 2016. The increase in cash and cash equivalents was primarily due to cash used in operating and investing activities in an amount that was slightly less than funds provided by financing activities.

 

Net cash used in operating activities totaled $4,117 for the year ended December 31, 2017, compared to net cash used by operating activities of $358 for the year ended December 31, 2016. During the year ended December 31, 2017, the increase in net cash used in operating activities compared to the year ended December 31, 2016 was mainly due to the December 31, 2017 year loss of $10,895. The net loss was partially offset by a number of non-cash charges, the amortization of debt discount of $4,688 and stock-based compensation of $1,831, an increase in accounts receivable, related party of $174 and accounts payable and accrued expenses of $1,517 and decreases in our accounts receivable of $285.

       

Net cash used in investing activities was $8,674 for the year ended December 31, 2017 compared to $1,029 of net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2016. The increase of the net usage of cash from investing activities was attributed to the investment in AVLP, investments in marketable securities, debt and equity investments to third parties and the purchase of Power-Plus.

Net cash provided by financing activities was $13,224 and $1,279 for the year ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The financing activities related to the sale of 1,309,545 shares of common stock and warrants for net proceeds of $1,962, the sale of Series B and Series C Preferred Stock of $1,540, gross proceeds from the Company’s debt financings of $4,125, gross proceeds from advances of future receipts of $2,889 and payments on debt facilities of $1,873.

Historically, the Company has financed its operations principally through issuances of convertible debt, promissory notes and equity securities. During 2017, as reflected below, the Company continued to successfully obtain additional equity and debt financing and in restructuring existing debt. The following financings transactions were consummated during 2017:

·

In February 2017, the Company issued demand promissory notes and warrants to purchase 333,333 shares of common stock at $ 0.70 per share for aggregate proceeds of $400. Further in February 2017, the holders of $400 in demand promissory notes agreed to extinguish their $400 of debt by cancelling their notes to purchase 666,667 shares of common stock of the Company at $0.60 per share.

 

 

·

On March 9, 2017, the Company entered into a Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement with Philou Ventures LLC (“Philou”), a related party, pursuant to which Philou was granted the right to invest up to $5,000 in the Company through the purchase of Series B Preferred Stock over a term of 36 months.  On March 24, 2017, Philou purchased 25,000 shares of Series B Preferred Stock pursuant to the Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement in consideration of cancellation of Company debt of $250 due to MCKEA, an affiliate of Philou. On May 5, 2017, Philou purchased an additional 50,000 shares of Series B Preferred Stock pursuant to the Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement for $500.

·

On March 15, 2017, the Company entered into a subscription agreement with one investor for the sale of 500,000 shares of common stock at $0.60 per share for the aggregate purchase price of $300.

·

On March 20, 2017, the Company issued $250 in demand promissory note to one of the Company's shareholders.

·

On March 28, 2017, the Company issued $270 in demand promissory notes to several investors. The Company received gross proceeds of $220 on March 31, 2017 and the remaining balance of $50 was received on April 3, 2017. On April 5, 2017, the Company canceled these promissory notes by issuing to the holders 360,000 shares of common stock at $0.75 per share and warrants to purchase 180,002 shares of common stock at $0.90 per share.

·

On April 17, 2017, the Company entered into two 7% convertible notes (the “7% Convertible Notes”) in the aggregate principal amount of $250. The 7% Convertible Notes accrue interest at 7% simple interest on the principal amount and were due on June 2, 2017. The 7% Convertible Notes were not repaid on the maturity date and as such were in default at June 30, 2017. During July 2017, these two 7% Convertible Notes were repaid.

·

On April 26, 2017, the Company entered into a 7% convertible note in the aggregate principal amount of $104. On June 28, 2017, the noteholder converted the outstanding balance into 189,091 shares of Digital Power’s common stock.

·

Between May 5, 2017 and June 30, 2017, the Company received additional short-term loans of $140 from four accredited investors of which $75 was from the Company’s corporate counsel, a related party. As additional consideration, the investors received five-year warrants to purchase 224,371 shares of common stock at a weighted average exercise price of $0.77 per share.During June 2017, the holders of $55 of these short-term loans agreed to cancel their notes for the purchase of 100,001 shares of the Digital Power’s common stock at a price of $0.55 per share. An additional $52 in short-term loans from the related party was converted into one of the Series C Units.

·

Between May 24, 2017 and June 19, 2017, Digital Power entered into subscription agreements (the “Series C Subscription Agreement”) with approximately twenty accredited investors (the “Series C Investors”) in connection with the sale of twenty-one Units at a purchase price of $52 per Unit raising in the aggregate $1,092 with each Unit consisting of Series C Preferred Stock and Warrants.

·

Between July 6, 2017 and September 13, 2017, the Company received funding as a result of entering into multiple Agreements for the Purchase and Sale of Future Receipts with TVT Capital LLC pursuant to which the Company sold in the aggregate $2,585 in Future Receipts of the Company for $1,772. Under the terms of the agreements, the Company will be obligated to pay the initial daily amount of $13 until the $2,585 has been paid in full. The term Future Receipts means cash, check, ACH, credit card, debit card, bank card, charged card or other form of monetary payment.

·

On July 24, 2017, we entered into subscription agreements with six investors, and on July 25, 2017 we entered into securities purchase agreements (the “Securities Purchase Agreement”) with an institutional investor, under which we agreed to issue and sell in the aggregate 851,363 shares of common stock to the investors at $0.55 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $468. Of the aggregate purchase price of $468, $445 was paid in cash and $23 was in consideration for the cancellation of debt from a related party of the Company.

 

 

·

On July 28, 2017, we entered into an exchange agreement with an institutional investor who was the owner of (i) a 7% Convertible Note in the principal amount of $125 and a warrant dated April 17, 2017 to purchase 83,334 shares of our common stock at $0.90. Under the terms of the exchange agreement, we agreed to exchange the 7% Convertible Note for three new promissory notes in the principal amounts of $110 due August 1, 2017; $35 due August 1, 2017; and $34 due August 8, 2017 (individually an Exchange Note and collectively the Exchange Notes) and to exchange the prior warrant for a new warrant to purchase 83,334 shares of common stock at $0.55 per share. Concurrent with entering into this exchange agreement, the institutional investor entered into a subscription agreement under which we issued and sold in a registered direct offering 200,000 shares of common stock at $0.55 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $110. The 200,000 shares of common stock were purchased through the cancellation of the Exchange Note in the principal amount of $110. In addition, in a concurrent private placement, the institutional investor entered into a separate securities purchase agreement under which we issued and sold 63,600 shares of common stock at $0.55 per share for an aggregate of purchase price of $35. The 63,600 shares of common stock were purchased through the cancellation of the Exchange Note in the principal amount of $35. Further, we issued a warrant to purchase 120,000 shares of common stock at $0.55 per share.

·

On August 3, 2017, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement to sell a 12% Convertible (“12% Convertible Note”) and a warrant to purchase 666,666 shares of common stock to an accredited investor (the “Investor”). The principal of the Convertible Note may be converted into shares of common stock at $0.55 per share and under the terms of the Warrant, up to 666,666 shares of common stock may be purchased at an exercise price of $0.70 per share. The Convertible Note is in the principal amount of $400 and was sold for $360, bears interest at 12% simple interest on the principal amount, and is due on August 13, 2018. Interest only payments are due on a quarterly basis and the principal is due on August 3, 2018. The principal may be converted into shares of the Company’s common stock at $0.55 per share. During January 2018, the outstanding balance on this 12% Convertible Note was converted into 666,666 shares of our common stock.

·

On August 10, 2017, the Company, entered into Securities Purchase Agreements (“Agreements”) with five institutional investors (the “Investors”) to sell for an aggregate purchase price of $800, 10% Senior Convertible Promissory Notes (“Convertible Notes”) with an aggregate principal face amount of $880 and warrants to purchase an aggregate of 1,475,000 shares of common stock. The principal of the Convertible Notes and interest earned thereon may be converted into shares of common stock at $0.60 per share and under the terms of the Warrant, up to 1,475,000 shares of common stock may be purchased at an exercise price of $0.66 per share. The Convertible Notes are in the aggregate principal amount of $880 and were sold for $800 and bear simple interest at 10% on the principal amount, and principal and interest are due on February 10, 2018. Subject to certain beneficial ownership limitations, each Investor may convert the principal amount of the Convertible Note and accrued interest earned thereon at any time into shares of common stock at $0.60 per share. The conversion price of the Convertible Notes is subject to adjustment for customary stock splits, stock dividends, combinations or similar events.

 

·

On October 18, 2017, the Company entered into subscription agreements with five investors, under which we agreed to issue and sell in the aggregate 452,239 shares of common stock to the investors at $0.67 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $303. $210 of the purchase price was paid in cash and $93 was paid through the cancellation of debt incurred by the Company.

 

·

On November 2, 2017, in conjunction with the securities purchase agreement to sell the November 5% Convertible Note in the principal amount of $1,111, the Company issued 300,000 shares of restricted common stock to the institutional investor.

 

·

On November 7, 2017, the Company entered into subscription agreements with investors under which the Company agreed to issue and sell in the aggregate 725,000 shares of common stock to the investors at $0.60 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $435. $280 of the aggregate purchase price was paid in cash and $155 was paid through the cancellation of debt incurred by the Company.

 

·

Between November 27, 2017 and December 28, 2017, the Company issued a total of 1,871,864 shares of its common stock upon the cash and cashless exercise of warrants to purchase an aggregate of 2,113,465 shares of its common stock. These warrants were issued between November 2016 and August 2017 in conjunction with various common stock and debt financings. The Company received cash of $642 as a result of these warrant exercises.

 

 

·

During the period from November 27, 2017 to December 6, 2017, the entire $530 of principal on the Convertible Note was satisfied through the issuance of 963,636 shares of the Company’s common stock.

 

·

On December 4, 2017, in conjunction with the securities purchase agreement to sell the 5% Convertible Note in the principal amount of $550, the Company issued 150,000 shares of restricted common stock to the institutional investor.

 

·

Between December 4, 2017 and December 22, 2017, the Company issued a total of 361,458 shares of its common stock upon the cash and cashless exercise of options to purchase an aggregate of 363,500 shares of its common stock. These options were issued pursuant to the Company’s Plans. The Company received cash of $557 as a result of these option exercises.

 

·

On December 5, 2017, the Company entered into subscription agreements with investors for the sale of 640,000 shares of common stock at $1.25 per share for the aggregate purchase price of $800,000. The direct offering closed December 13, 2017.

 

·

On December 5, 2017, the Company entered into an exchange agreement with several accredited investors for the cancellation of $690 in outstanding principal on the 10% Short-Term Notes. In December 2016, Microphase issued $705 in 10% Short-Term Notes. The 10% Short-Term Notes were due one year from the date of issuance. The amount due pursuant to the 10% Short-Term Notes is equal to the entire original principal amount multiplied by 125% (the “Loan Premium”) plus accrued interest. In exchange for the cancellation of $690 of outstanding principal and $250 of accrued loan premiums and interest owed to the investors by Microphase Corporation, the Company entered into the exchange agreement pursuant to which the Company issued an aggregate of 1,523,852 shares of common stock and warrants to purchase 380,466 shares of common stock with an exercise price of $1.10 per share of common stock.

 

·

On December 5, 2017, the Company entered into an exchange agreement with WT Johnson, pursuant to which the Company issued to WT Johnson convertible promissory notes in the principal amount of $2,668. During December 2017, the Company issued 600,000 shares of its common stock upon the conversion of the promissory notes.

 

·

On December 13, 2017 and December 14, 2017, the entire $1,111 of principal on the November 5% Convertible Note was satisfied through the issuance of 1,851,667 shares of the Company’s common stock.

 

·

On December 28, 2017, principal and accrued interest of $198 and $5, respectively, on the 12% Convertible Note was satisfied through the issuance of 368,760 shares of the Company’s common stock.

 

·

During December 2017, the entire principal and accrued interest of $880 and $54, respectively, on the 10% Convertible Notes was satisfied through the issuance of 1,557,417 shares of the Company’s common stock.

 

·

On January 25, 2018, we issued two 5% promissory notes, each in the principal face amount of $2,500,000 for an aggregate debt of $5,000,000 to two institutional investors. The proceeds from the two promissory notes was used to purchase 1,000 Antminer S9s manufactured by Bitmain Technologies, Inc. in connection with our mining operations. We received delivery of the Miners on February 1, 2018. On March 27, 2018, we paid the principal and accrued interest on each of the 5% promissory notes.

 

·

On February 27, 2018, we entered into a sales agreement with H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC (“HCW”) to sell shares of our common stock, having an aggregate offering price of up to $50 million from time to time, through an “at the market offering” program (the “ATM Offering”) under which HCW acts as sales agent. As of April 13, 2018, we had received net proceeds of $7,121 through the sale of 6,648,538 shares of our common stock through the ATM Offering. The offer and sale of the shares through the ATM Offering will be made pursuant to our effective “shelf” registration statement on Form S-3 and an accompanying base prospectus contained therein (Registration Statement No. 333-222132) filed with the SEC on December 18, 2017, amended on January 8, 2018, and declared effective by the SEC on January 11, 2018, and a prospectus supplement related to the ATM Offering, dated February 27, 2018.

 

 

We expect to continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future and will be required to raise additional capital to continue to support our working capital requirements. We believe that the MLSE purchase order contract of $50 million will contribute to generate meaningful revenue and corresponding cash in 2018. In addition, we have been successful over the last 12 months in raising capital to support our working capital requirements. We anticipate that we will continue to raise capital through public and private equity offerings, debt financings, or other means. If we are unable to secure additional capital, we may be required to curtail our current operations and take additional measures to reduce costs expenses, including reducing our workforce, eliminating outside consultants, ceasing or reducing our due diligence of potential future acquisitions, including the associated legal fees, in order to conserve cash in order to sustain operations and meet our obligations.

Based on the above, these matters raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

Critical Accounting Policies

 

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported assets, liabilities, revenues, and expenses in the accompanying consolidated financial statements. Critical accounting policies are those that require the most subjective and complex judgments, often employing the use of estimates about the effect of matters that are inherently uncertain. The following are considered our most critical accounting policies that, under different conditions or using different assumption or estimates, could show materially different results on our financial condition and results of operations.

  

Revenue Recognition

The Company generates revenues from the sale of its products through a direct and indirect sales force. Revenues from products are recognized in accordance with ASC No. 605, Revenue Recognition, when the following criteria are met: persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, delivery has occurred, the seller's price to the buyer is fixed or determinable, no further obligation exists and collectability is reasonably assured. Generally, the Company does not grant a right of return. However, certain distributors are allowed, in the six months after the initial stock purchase, to rotate stock that has not been sold for other products. Revenues subject to stock rotation rights are deferred until the products are sold to the end customer or until the rotation rights expire. Service revenues are deferred and recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the service agreement. Service revenues are immaterial in proportion to the Company's revenues. 

 

Accounts Receivable and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

The Company’s receivables are recorded when billed and represent claims against third parties that will be settled in cash. The carrying amount of the Company’s receivables, net of the allowance for doubtful accounts, represents their estimated net realizable value. The Company individually reviews all accounts receivable balances and based upon an assessment of current creditworthiness, estimates the portion, if any, of the balance that will not be collected. The Company estimates the allowance for doubtful accounts based on historical collection trends, age of outstanding receivables and existing economic conditions. If events or changes in circumstances indicate that a specific receivable balance may be impaired, further consideration is given to the collectability of those balances and the allowance is adjusted accordingly. A customer’s receivable balance is considered past-due based on its contractual terms. Past-due receivable balances are written-off when the Company’s internal collection efforts have been unsuccessful in collecting the amount due. Based on an assessment as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, of the collectability of invoices, accounts receivable are presented net of an allowance for doubtful accounts of $5 and $32, respectively.

 

Marketable Securities

The Company classifies its investments in equity securities, in accordance with ASC No. 320, Investment in Debt and Equity Securities (“ASC No. 320”) and ASC No. 325, Investment – Other (“ASC No. 325”). Marketable securities are designated either as trading or available-for-sale securities and are accounted for at fair value. Marketable securities are classified as short-term or long-term based on the nature of the securities and their availability to meet current operating requirements. Marketable securities that are readily available for use in current operations and are classified as short-term available-for-sale securities are reported as a component of current assets in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. Marketable securities that are not trading securities and are not considered available for use in current operations are classified as long-term available-for-sale securities and are reported as a component of long-term assets in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

 

Securities that are classified as trading are carried at fair value, with changes to fair value reported as a component of income. Securities that are classified as available-for-sale are carried at fair value, with temporary unrealized gains and losses reported as a component of stockholders' equity until their disposition. The cost of securities sold is based on the specific identification method.

All of the Company’s marketable securities are subject to a periodic impairment review. The Company recognizes an impairment charge when a decline in the fair value of its investments below the cost basis is judged to be other-than-temporary.  When evaluating the Company’s debt and equity investments for other-than-temporary impairment, the Company reviews factors such as the length of time and extent to which fair value has been below cost basis, the financial condition of the issuer and any changes thereto, and the Company’s intent to sell, or whether it is more likely than not that it will be required to sell, the investment before recovery of the investment’s amortized cost basis. Equity securities that do not have readily determinable fair values (i.e., non-marketable equity securities) and are not required to be accounted for under the equity method are typically carried at cost (i.e., cost method investments), as described in ASC No. 325-20. For the year ended December 31, 2017, no other-than-temporary impairment charges were recorded.

 

Common Stock Purchase Warrants and Other Derivative Financial Instruments

The Company classifies common stock purchase warrants and other free standing derivative financial instruments as equity if the contracts (i) require physical settlement or net-share settlement or (ii) give the Company a choice of net-cash settlement or settlement in its own shares (physical settlement or net-share settlement). The Company classifies any contracts that (i) require net-cash settlement (including a requirement to net cash settle the contract if an event occurs and if that event is outside the control of the Company), (ii) give the counterparty a choice of net-cash settlement or settlement in shares (physical settlement or net-share settlement), or (iii) contain reset provisions as either an asset or a liability. The Company assesses classification of its freestanding derivatives at each reporting date to determine whether a change in classification between assets and liabilities is required. The Company determined that certain freestanding derivatives, which principally consist of issuance of warrants to purchase shares of common in connection with convertible notes, units and to employees of the Company, satisfy the criteria for classification as equity instruments as these warrants do not contain cash settlement features or variable settlement provision that cause them to not be indexed to the Company’s own stock.

Stock-Based Compensation

The Company accounts for stock-based compensation in accordance with ASC No. 718, Compensation – Stock Compensation (“ASC No. 718”). Under ASC No. 718, compensation expense related to stock-based payments is recorded over the requisite service period based on the grant date fair value of the awards.  Compensation previously recorded for unvested stock options that are forfeited is reversed upon forfeiture.  The Company uses the Black-Scholes option pricing model for determining the estimated fair value for stock-based awards.  The Black-Scholes model requires the use of assumptions which determine the fair value of stock-based awards, including the option’s expected term and the price volatility of the underlying stock.

The Company’s accounting policy for equity instruments issued to consultants and vendors in exchange for goods and services follows the provisions of ASC No. 505-50, Equity Based Payments to Non-Employees.  Accordingly, the measurement date for the fair value of the equity instruments issued is determined at the earlier of (i) the date at which a commitment for performance by the consultant or vendor is reached or (ii) the date at which the consultant or vendor’s performance is complete.  In the case of equity instruments issued to consultants, the fair value of the equity instrument is recognized over the term of the consulting agreement.

 

 

Convertible Instruments

The Company accounts for hybrid contracts that feature conversion options in accordance with ASC No. 815, Derivatives and Hedging Activities (“ASC No. 815”). ASC No. 815 requires companies to bifurcate conversion options from their host instruments and account for them as freestanding derivative financial instruments according to certain criteria. The criteria includes circumstances in which (a) the economic characteristics and risks of the embedded derivative instrument are not clearly and closely related to the economic characteristics and risks of the host contract, (b) the hybrid instrument that embodies both the embedded derivative instrument and the host contract is not re-measured at fair value under otherwise applicable GAAP with changes in fair value reported in earnings as they occur and (c) a separate instrument with the same terms as the embedded derivative instrument would be considered a derivative instrument.

  

Conversion options that contain variable settlement features such as provisions to adjust the conversion price upon subsequent issuances of equity or equity linked securities at exercise prices more favorable than that featured in the hybrid contract generally result in their bifurcation from the host instrument.

 

The Company accounts for convertible instruments, when the Company has determined that the embedded conversion options should not be bifurcated from their host instruments, in accordance with ASC No. 470-20, Debt with Conversion and Other Options (“ASC No. 470-20”). Under ASC No. 470-20 the Company records, when necessary, discounts to convertible notes for the intrinsic value of conversion options embedded in debt instruments based upon the differences between the fair value of the underlying common stock at the commitment date of the note transaction and the effective conversion price embedded in the note. The Company accounts for convertible instruments (when the Company has determined that the embedded conversion options should be bifurcated from their host instruments) in accordance with ASC No. 815.

Fair value of Financial Instruments

In accordance with ASC No. 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures, fair value is defined as the exit price, or the amount that would be received for the sale of an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants as of the measurement date.

 

The guidance also establishes a hierarchy for inputs used in measuring fair value that maximizes the use of observable inputs and minimizes the use of unobservable inputs by requiring that the most observable inputs be used when available. Observable inputs are inputs that market participants would use in valuing the asset or liability and are developed based on market data obtained from sources independent of the Company. Unobservable inputs are inputs that reflect the Company’s assumptions about the factors that market participants would use in valuing the asset or liability. The guidance establishes three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value:

Level 1: Quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2: Inputs other than Level 1 that are observable, either directly or indirectly, such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities; quoted prices in markets that are not active; or model-derived valuations.  All significant inputs used in our valuations are observable or can be derived principally from or corroborated with observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities. Level 2 inputs also include quoted prices that were adjusted for security-specific restrictions which are compared to output from internally developed models such as a discounted cash flow models.

Level 3: Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities.

The carrying amounts of financial instruments carried at cost, including cash and cash equivalents, trade receivables and trade receivable – related party, investments, notes receivable, trade payables and trade payables – related party approximate their fair value due to the short-term maturities of such instruments.

As of December 31, 2017 and 2016, the fair value of the Company’s investments were $9,300 and $84, respectively, and were concentrated in equity securities of AVLP, a related party (See Note 9), which are classified as available-for-sale investments. At December 31, 2017, the Company's investment in AVLP included marketable equity securities of $826 and warrants to purchase 8,248,440 shares of AVLP common stock at an exercise price of $0.50 per share of common stock. At December 31, 2016, the Company's investment in AVLP included marketable equity securities of $84. For investments in marketable equity securities, the Company took into consideration general market conditions, the duration and extent to which the fair value is above cost, and the Company’s ability and intent to hold the investment for a sufficient period of time to allow for recovery of value in the foreseeable future. As a result of this analysis, the Company has determined that its investment in AVLP marketable equity securities are accounted for pursuant to the fair value method based upon the closing market price of common stock at December 31, 2017, which resulted in an unrealized gain of $550.

 

 

At December 31, 2017, the Company held shares of common stock in five companies that it purchased at the market for a total cost of $1,439. In accordance with ASC No. 320-10, these investments are accounted for pursuant to the fair value method based upon the closing market prices of common stock for these five companies at December 31, 2017 resulting in an unrealized gain of $133.

The categorization of a financial instrument within the valuation hierarchy is based upon the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The following table sets forth the Company’s financial instruments that were measured at fair value on a recurring basis by level within the fair value hierarchy:

We assess the inputs used to measure fair value using a three-tier hierarchy based on the extent to which inputs used in measuring fair value are observable in the market:

 

·

Level 1 – inputs include quoted prices for identical instruments and are the most observable.

·

Level 2 – inputs include quoted prices for similar assets and observable inputs such as interest rates, currency exchange rates and yield curves.

·

Level 3 – inputs are not observable in the market and include management’s judgments about the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability.

 

 

ITEM 7A.

QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

 

Because we are a smaller reporting company, this section is not applicable

ITEM 8.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

  

The financial statements required by this Item 8 are included in this Annual Report following Item 15 hereof. As a smaller reporting company, we are not required to provide supplementary financial information.

ITEM 9.

CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

Not applicable

 

 

ITEM 9A.

CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

 

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

As of December 31, 2017, we have carried out an evaluation, under the supervision of, and with the participation of, our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures pursuant to Rule 13a-15(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). We have established disclosure controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms and is accumulated and communicated to management, including the principal executive officer and principal financial officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Based upon that evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, with the assistance of other members of the Company's management, have evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) as of the end of the period covered by this annual report and has determined that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective due to certain material weaknesses as described herein.

 

A material weakness is a control deficiency (within the meaning of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) Auditing Standard No. 2) or combination of control deficiencies that result in more than a remote likelihood that a material misstatement of the annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected. Management has identified the following two material weaknesses:

 

1.

We do not have sufficient resources in our accounting function, which restricts our ability to gather, analyze and properly review information related to financial reporting in a timely manner. In addition, due to our size and nature, segregation of all conflicting duties may not always be possible and may not be economically feasible. However, to the extent possible, the initiation of transactions, the custody of assets and the recording of transactions should be performed by separate individuals. Management evaluated the impact of our failure to have segregation of duties during our assessment of our disclosure controls and procedures and concluded that the control deficiency that resulted represented a material weakness

2.

We have inadequate controls to ensure that information necessary to properly record transactions is adequately communicated on a timely basis from non-financial personnel to those responsible for financial reporting. Management evaluated the impact of the lack of timely communication between non–financial and financial personnel on our assessment of our reporting controls and procedures and has concluded that the control deficiency represented a material weakness.

Planned Remediation

Management, in coordination with the input, oversight and support of our Board of Directors, has identified the measures below to strengthen our control environment and internal control over financial reporting.

Until such time as we hire a new Chief Financial Officer, the Chairman of the Audit Committee shall perform the following:

·

assists with documentation and implementation of policies and procedures and monitoring of controls,

·

reviews all anticipated transactions that are not considered in the ordinary course of business to assist in the early identification of accounting issues and ensure that appropriate disclosures are made in the Company’s financial statements.

 

We are currently working to improve and simplify our internal processes and implement enhanced controls, as discussed above, to address the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting and to remedy the ineffectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures.

 

Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

 

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act). Our internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company's internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company's assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

 

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

 

Our management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2017. In making this assessment, our management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”) in Internal Control-Integrated 2013 Framework. The 2013 Framework is expected to help organizations design and implement internal control in light of many changes in business and operating environments since the issuance of the original framework, broaden the application of internal control in addressing operation and reporting objectives, and clarify the requirements for determining what constitutes effective internal controls. Our management has concluded that, as of December 31, 2017, our internal control over financial reporting was not effective.

 

This Annual Report does not include an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting. Management’s report was not subject to attestation by our independent registered public accounting firm pursuant to a provision under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act which grants a permanent exemption for non-accelerated filers from complying with Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

 

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

 

During the most recent fiscal quarter 2017 there were no significant changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act) that have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect our internal control over financial reporting.

ITEM 9B.

OTHER INFORMATION.

 

None

 

PART III

 

Item 10.           Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.

 

The following table sets forth the positions and offices presently held by each of our current directors and executive officers and their ages:

 

 

Each of the directors named above will serve until the next annual meeting of our shareholders or until his respective successor is elected and qualified. Subject to the terms of applicable employment agreements, our executive officers serve at the discretion of our Board.

 

Mr. Milton C. Ault, III

 

On March 16, 2017, Mr. Ault was appointed Executive Chairman of the Board and on December 28, 2017, Mr. Ault was appointed Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Ault is a seasoned business professional and entrepreneur that has spent more than twenty-seven years identifying value in various financial markets including equities, fixed income, commodities, and real estate. Mr. Ault founded on February 25, 2016 Alzamend Neuro, Inc., a biotechnology firm dedicated to finding the treatment, prevention and cure for Alzheimer’s Disease and has served as its Chairman since. Mr. Ault has served as Chairman of Ault & Company, a holding company since December 2015, and as Chairman of Avalanche International Corp since September 2014, a company whose shares are registered under the Exchange Act. Since January, 2011, Mr. Ault has been the Vice President of Business Development for MCKEA Holdings, LLC, a family office. Through this position, Mr. Ault has consulted for a few publicly traded and privately held companies, providing each of them the benefit of his diversified experience, that range from development stage to seasoned businesses. He was the President, Chief Executive Officer, Director and Chairman of the Board of Zealous, Inc. from August 2007 until June 4, 2010 and again from February 2011 through May 1, 2011. Mr. Ault was a registered representative at Strome Securities, LP, from July 1998 until December 2005, where he was involved in portfolio management and worked on several activism campaigns including Taco Cabana, Jack In The Box (formerly Foodmaker), and 21st Century Holdings Co. Mr. Ault became majority shareholder of Franklin Capital Corp and was elected to its board of directors in July 2004 and became its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in October 2004 serving until January 2006, and again from July 2006 to January 2007. In April 2005, the company changed its name to Patient Safety Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB:PSTX, OTCQB:PSTX) (“PST”) and purchased SurgiCount Medical, Inc. Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK) acquired PST at the beginning of 2014 in a deal valued at approximately one hundred twenty million dollars ($120,000,000). PST’s wholly owned operating subsidiary, SurgiCount Medical, Inc., is the company that developed the SafetySponge® System; a bar coding technology for inventory control that aims to detect and prevent the incidence of foreign objects left in the body after surgery. We believe that Mr. Ault’s business background demonstrates he has the qualifications to serve as one of our directors and as Chairman.

 

Amos Kohn

 

Mr. Kohn has served as a member of our board of directors since 2003, as our President since 2008. Mr. Kohn also served at our Chief Executive Officer from 2008 to December 2017. From March 2011 until August 2013 and again from July 2017 until January 2018, Mr. Kohn also served as interim Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Kohn has more than 20 years of successful global executive management experience, including multiple C-level roles across private and established publicly-traded companies. Mr. Kohn has successfully managed cross-functional teams, driven corporations to high profitability, built customer loyalty and led businesses through expansion and sustained growth. His areas of expertise include operations, technology innovation, manufacturing, strategic analysis and planning and M&A. Mr. Kohn was Vice President of Business Development at Scopus Video Networks, Inc., a Princeton, New Jersey company that develops and markets digital video networking products (2006-2007); Vice President of Solutions Engineering at ICTV Inc., a leading provider of network-based streaming media technology solutions for digital video and web-driven programming, located in Los Gatos, California (2003-2006); Chief Architect at Liberate Technologies, a leading company in the development of a full range of digital media processing for telecom and cable TV industries, located in San Carlos, California (2000-2003); and Executive Vice President of Engineering and Technology at Golden Channel & Co., the largest cable television multiple-systems operator (MSO) in Israel, where he had executive responsibility for developing and implementing the entire nationwide cable TV system (1989-2000). Mr. Kohn holds a degree in electrical and electronics engineering and is named as an inventor on several United States and international patents. We believe that Mr. Kohn’s extensive executive-level management experience in diversified industries, including, but not limited to, power electronics, telecommunications, cable television, broadcast and wireless, as well as his service as a director on our board since 2003, give him the qualifications and skills to serve as one of our directors.

 

 

William B. Horne

 

Mr. Horne has served as a member of our board of directors since October 2016. On January 25, 2018, Mr. Horne was appointed as our Chief Financial Officer. Prior to his appointment as our Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Horne served as one our independent directors.  He has served as the Chief Financial Officer of Targeted Medical Pharma, Inc. (OTCBB: TRGM) since August 2013. Mr. Horne is a director of and Chief Financial Officer to Avalanche International, Corp., a company whose shares of common stock are registered under the Exchange Act. Mr. Horne previously held the position of Chief Financial Officer in various companies in the healthcare and high-tech field, including OptimisCorp, from January 2008 to May 2013, a privately held, diversified healthcare technology company located in Los Angeles, California. Mr. Horne served as the Chief Financial Officer of Patient Safety Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: PSTX), a medical device company located in Irvine, California, from June 2005 to October 2008 and as the interim Chief Executive Officer from January 2007 to April 2008. In his dual role at Patient Safety Technologies, Mr. Horne was directly responsible for structuring the divestiture of non-core assets, capital financings and debt restructuring. Mr. Horne held the position of Managing Member & Chief Financial Officer of Alaska Wireless Communications, LLC, a privately held, advanced cellular communications company, from its inception in May 2002 until November 2007. Mr. Horne was responsible for negotiating the sale of Alaska Wireless to General Communication Inc. (NASDAQ: GNCMA). From November 1996 to December 2001, Mr. Horne held the position of Chief Financial Officer of The Phoenix Partners, a venture capital limited partnership located in Seattle, Washington. Mr. Horne has also held supervisory positions at Price Waterhouse, LLP and has a Bachelor of Arts Magna Cum Laude in Accounting from Seattle University. We believe that Mr. Horne's extensive financial and accounting experience in diversified industries and with companies involving complex transactions give him the qualifications and skills to serve as one of our directors.

 

Robert O. Smith

 

Mr. Smith serves as one of our independent directors. Previously, he served as a member of our Board of Directors from November 2010 until May 2015, and served as a member of our Advisory Board from 2002 until 2015. He is currently a C-level executive consultant working with Bay Area high-tech firms on various strategic initiatives in all aspects of their business. From 2004 to 2007, he served on the Board of Directors of Castelle Corporation. From 1990 to 2002, he was our President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board. From 1980 to 1990, he held several management positions with Computer Products, Inc., the most recent being President of their Compower/Boschert Division. From 1970 to 1980, he held managerial accounting positions with Ametek/Lamb Electric and with the JM Smucker Company. Mr. Smith received his BBA degree in Accounting from Ohio University. We believe that Mr. Smith’s executive-level experience, including his previous service as our President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, his extensive experience in the accounting industry, and his service on our Board from November 2010 until May 2015, give him the qualifications and skills to serve as one of our directors.

 

Mordechai Rosenberg

 

Mr. Rosenberg serves as one of our independent directors. He has served as an independent consultant to various companies in the design and implementation of homeland security systems in Europe and Africa since 2010. From 2004 to 2009, he served as a special consultant to Bullet Plate Ltd., a manufacturer of armor protection systems, and NovIdea Ltd., a manufacturer of perimeter and border security systems. From 2000 to 2003, Mr. Rosenberg was the general manager of ZIV U.P.V.C Products Ltd.'s doors and window factory. Mr. Rosenberg is an active reserve officer and a retired colonel from the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), where he served for 26 years and was involved in the development of weapon systems. In the IDF, Mr. Rosenberg served in various capacities, including platoon, company, battalion and brigade commander, head of the training center for all IDF infantry, and head of the Air Force's Special Forces. Mr. Rosenberg received a B.A in History from the University of Tel Aviv and a Master of Arts in Political Science from the University of Haifa in Israel. We believe that Mr. Rosenberg’s business background give him the qualifications to serve as one of our directors. 

   

  

 

Corporate Governance

 

Our Board is currently composed of six members and maintains the following three standing committees: (1) the Audit Committee; (2) the Compensation Committee; and (3) the Nominating and Governance Committee. The membership and the function of each of the committees are described below. Our Board may, from time to time, establish a new committee or dissolve an existing committee depending on the circumstances. Current copies of the charters for the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Governance Committee can be found on our website at https://dpwholdings.com.

 

Audit Committee

 

Messrs. Smith, Bentz and Rosenberg currently comprise the Audit Committee of our Board. Our Board has determined that each of the current members of the Audit Committee satisfies the requirements for independence and financial literacy under the standards of the SEC and the NYSE American. Our Board has also determined that Mr. Smith qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in SEC regulations and satisfies the financial sophistication requirements set forth in the NYSE American Rules.

 

The Audit Committee is responsible for, among other things, selecting and hiring our independent auditors, approving the audit and pre-approving any non-audit services to be performed by our independent auditors; reviewing the scope of the annual audit undertaken by our independent auditors and the progress and results of their work; reviewing our financial statements, internal accounting and auditing procedures, and corporate programs to ensure compliance with applicable laws; and reviewing the services performed by our independent auditors to determine if the services rendered are compatible with maintaining the independent auditors’ impartial opinion.

 

Compensation Committee

 

Messrs. Smith, Bentz and Rosenberg currently comprise the Compensation Committee of our Board. Our Board has determined that each of the current members of the Compensation Committee meets the requirements for independence under the standards of the NYSE American. Mr. Smith serves as Chairman of the Compensation Committee.

 

The Compensation Committee is responsible for, among other things, reviewing and approving executive compensation policies and practices; reviewing and approving salaries, bonuses and other benefits paid to our officers, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer; and administering our stock option plans and other benefit plans.

 

Nominating and Governance Committee

 

Messrs. Smith, Bentz, and Rosenberg currently comprise the Nominating and Governance Committee of our Board. Our Board has determined that each of the current members of the Nominating and Governance Committee meets the requirements for independence under the standards of the NYSE American. Mr. Rosenberg serves as Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee.

 

The Nominating and Governance Committee is responsible for, among other things, assisting our Board in identifying prospective director nominees and recommending nominees for each annual meeting of shareholders to the Board; developing and recommending governance principles applicable to our Board; overseeing the evaluation of our Board and management; and recommending potential members for each Board committee to our Board.

 

The Nominating and Governance Committee considers diversity when identifying Board candidates. In particular, it considers such criteria as a candidate’s broad-based business and professional skills, experiences and global business and social perspective.

 

In addition, the Committee seeks directors who exhibit personal integrity and a concern for the long-term interests of shareholders, as well as those who have time available to devote to Board activities and to enhancing their knowledge of the power-supply industry. Accordingly, we seek to attract and retain highly qualified directors who have sufficient time to attend to their substantial duties and responsibilities.

 

Involvement in Certain Legal Proceedings

Except as set forth below, to the best of our knowledge, during the past ten years, none of the following occurred with respect to a present or former director, executive officer, or employee:

·

been convicted in a criminal proceeding or been subject to a pending criminal proceeding (excluding traffic violations and other minor offenses);

·

had any bankruptcy petition filed by or against the business or property of the person, or of any partnership, corporation or business association of which he was a general partner or executive officer, either at the time of the bankruptcy filing or within two years prior to that time;

·

been subject to any order, judgment, or decree, not subsequently reversed, suspended or vacated, of any court of competent jurisdiction or federal or state authority, permanently or temporarily enjoining, barring, suspending or otherwise limiting, his involvement in any type of business, securities, futures, commodities, investment, banking, savings and loan, or insurance activities, or to be associated with persons engaged in any such activity;

·

been found by a court of competent jurisdiction in a civil action or by the SEC or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to have violated a federal or state securities or commodities law, and the judgment has not been reversed, suspended, or vacated;

·

been the subject of, or a party to, any federal or state judicial or administrative order, judgment, decree, or finding, not subsequently reversed, suspended or vacated (not including any settlement of a civil proceeding among private litigants), relating to an alleged violation of any federal or state securities or commodities law or regulation, any law or regulation respecting financial institutions or insurance companies including, but not limited to, a temporary or permanent injunction, order of disgorgement or restitution, civil money penalty or temporary or permanent cease-and-desist order, or removal or prohibition order, or any law or regulation prohibiting mail or wire fraud or fraud in connection with any business entity;

·

or been the subject of, or a party to, any sanction or order, not subsequently reversed, suspended or vacated, of any self-regulatory organization (as defined in Section 3(a)(26) of the Exchange Act), any registered entity (as defined in Section 1(a)(29) of the Commodity Exchange Act), or any equivalent exchange, association, entity or organization that has disciplinary authority over its members or persons associated with a member.

 

1.

Mr. Ault held series 7, 24, and 63 licenses and managed four domestic hedge funds and one bond fund from 1998 through 2008. On April 26, 2012, as a result from an investigation by FINRA involving activities during 2008, Mr. Ault agreed to a settlement with FINRA in which he did not admit to any liability or violation of any laws or regulatory rules and that included restitution and a suspension from association with a FINRA member firm for a period of 2 years. As part of that settlement, Mr. Ault agreed that before he would reapply for association with FINRA, if at all, he would make restitution to certain investors. Mr. Ault was able to speak with and pay restitution to one of the investors, but no others. As a result, Mr. Ault is neither eligible, nor does he intend, to apply for association with FINRA.

2.

Mr. Ault was CEO, President and Chairman of Zealous Holdings, Inc. that filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of Title 11 of the United States Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”) on February 20, 2009, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California. This Chapter 11 filing was subsequently converted to a Chapter 7 filing by order of the Bankruptcy Court. Zealous Holdings, Inc. was not an entity that was entitled to a discharge under the bankruptcy code. As such Zealous Holdings, Inc. did not receive a discharge. Ultimately, Zealous Holdings, Inc. ceased doing business and was permanently closed.

3.

Mr. Ault filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of Title 11 of the United States Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”) on December 8, 2009, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California. This Chapter 13 filing was subsequently converted to a Chapter 7 filing by order of the Bankruptcy Court and months later, the petition being withdrawn and dismissed without prejudice.

 

 

Except as set forth in our discussion below in “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions,” none of our directors or executive officers has been involved in any transactions with us or any of our directors, executive officers, affiliates or associates which are required to be disclosed pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.

 

Family Relationships

Milton C. Ault, III and Kristine Ault are spouses.

 

Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance

 

Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our executive officers and directors and persons who own more than ten percent of a registered class of our equity securities to file an initial report of ownership on Form 3 and changes in ownership on Form 4 or Form 5 with the SEC.  Executive officers, directors and ten percent shareholders are also required by SEC rules to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) forms they file.  Based solely upon our review of Forms 3, 4 and 5 received by us, or written representations from certain reporting persons, we believe that during the during current fiscal year and the year ended December 31, 2017, all such filing requirements applicable to our officers, directors and ten percent shareholders were fulfilled with the following exceptions: During the fiscal year 2017, Messrs. Horne, Smith and Rosenberg, and Ms. Ault each inadvertently filed late one Form 4 reporting one transaction and Mr. Kohn inadvertently filed three Forms 4s late reporting eight transactions.

 

Code of Ethics

 

We have adopted the Code of Ethical Conduct that applies to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer, controller or person performing similar functions (collectively, the “Financial Managers”). The Code of Ethical Conduct is designed to deter wrongdoing and to promote honest and ethical conduct and compliance with applicable laws and regulations. The full text of our Code of Ethical Conduct is published on our website at https://dpwholdings.com. We will disclose any substantive amendments to the Code of Ethical Conduct or any waivers, explicit or implicit, from a provision of the Code on our website or in a current report on Form 8-K. Upon request to our President, Amos Kohn, we will provide without charge, a copy of our Code of Ethical Conduct.

 

ITEM 11.

EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION.

 

Summary Compensation Table

 

The following Summary Compensation Table sets forth all compensation earned in all capacities during the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, by our Chief Executive Officer (the “Named Executive Officer”). Because we are a Smaller Reporting Company, we only have to report information of our Chief Executive Officer as no other officer met the definition of Named Executive Officer within the meaning of the SEC rules.

 

 

 Employment Agreement with Amos Kohn

 

On November 30, 2016, as amended on February 22, 2017, the Company entered into an employment agreement with Amos Kohn to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer with an effective date of September 22, 2016.

 

For his services, Mr. Kohn will be paid a salary of $300,000 per annum increasing to $350,000 per annum provided that the Company achieves revenues in the aggregate amount of at least $10,000,000 as determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP for the trailing four calendar quarters.

 

In addition, Mr. Kohn shall be eligible for an annual cash bonus equal to a percentage of his annual base salary based on achievement of applicable performance goals determined by the Company’s compensation committee after conferring with Mr. Kohn. The target amount of Mr. Kohn’s annual performance bonus shall be 25% to 50% of his then annual base salary but may be greater upon mutual agreement between Mr. Kohn and the compensation committee.

 

Further, Mr. Kohn is entitled to receive equity participation as follows: (i) ten-year warrants to purchase 317,460 shares of the Company's Common Stock (the “Warrant Grant”) at an exercise price of $0.01 per share subject to vesting quarterly over two years effective January 1, 2017; and (ii) ten-year options to purchase 1,000,000 shares of the Company’s Common Stock at an exercise price of $0.65 per share. The option to purchase 1,000,000 shares of Common Stock is subject to the following vesting schedule: (1) options to purchase 500,000 shares of Common Stock shall vest upon the effective date; (2) options to purchase 250,000 shares of Common Stock shall vest ratably over six months beginning with the first month after the effective date; and (3) options to purchase 250,000 shares of common stock shall vest ratably over twelve months beginning with the first month after the effective date. As part of the grant of the options to purchase 1,000,000 shares, Mr. Kohn forfeited options to purchase 535,000 shares of common stock previously granted to him under the Company’s Incentive Share Option Plans.

 

In the event that Mr. Kohn is terminated by the Company without cause, or if Mr. Kohn resigns for good reason, Mr. Kohn shall be entitled to (i) all annual salary earned prior to the termination date, any earned but unpaid portion of Mr. Kohn’s annual performance bonus for the year preceding in which such termination occurred and any earned but unpaid paid time off; (ii) an amount equal to 100% of Mr. Kohn’s then in effect annual base salary plus an additional 1/12th of Mr. Kohn’s annual base salary for each year of employment with the Company prior to such termination; (iii) an amount equal to the average of Mr. Kohn’s two prior years’ annual bonuses (with such average not to exceed 50% of the Mr. Kohn’s annual base salary in effect at the time of termination) prorated for the portion of the year that executive was employed; (iv) accelerated vesting of all outstanding unvested stock options and other equity arrangements subject to vesting and held by Mr. Kohn through the termination date and the Company’s right to repurchase Mr. Kohn’s restricted stock shall cease; and (v) to the extent required by COBRA, continuation of group health benefits pursuant to the Company's standard programs or in effect at the termination date at Company expense for a period of not less than 18 months.

 

If Mr. Kohn is terminated without cause, or resigns for good reason within 12 months of a change of control, Mr. Kohn shall be entitled to receive: (i) payment in a lump sum of Mr. Kohn annual base salary for 24 months and any accrued, unused paid time-off; (ii) accelerated vesting of all outstanding unvested stock options and other equity arrangements subject to vesting and the Company’s right to repurchase Mr. Kohn restricted stock shall cease; and (iii) to the extent required by COBRA, continuation of group health benefits pursuant to the Company's standard programs or in effect at the termination date at the Company’s expense for a period of not less than 18 months. 

Employment agreement with William B. Horne

On January 25, 2018, we entered into a five-year employment agreement with William Horne to serve as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of the Company and its subsidiaries.  For his services, Mr. Horne will be paid a base salary of $250,000 per annum. Upon signing of the employment agreement, Mr. Horne is entitled to a signing bonus in the amount of $25,000.  In addition, Mr. Horne shall be eligible to receive an annual cash bonus equal to a percentage of his annual base salary based on achievement of applicable performance goals determined by the Company’s compensation committee.

 

Further, Mr. Horne is entitled to receive equity participation as follows: (i) a grant of restricted stock in the aggregate amount of 1,000,000 shares of common stock, which shares shall vest in installments of two hundred thousand (200,000) shares annually over five (5) years beginning on January 1, 2019, provided, however, that such shares may, in whole or in part, in the discretion of the Compensation Committee, vest immediately upon the filing of an Annual Report on Form 10-K with the SEC  that shows that the Company’s revenues for the applicable fiscal year reached or exceeded $100,000,000; notwithstanding the foregoing, before the Company accelerates any such vesting, the Company’s Compensation Committee must prior thereto have obtained the consent of Mr. Horne, which consent may be withheld in his discretion, and (ii) an option to purchase 500,000 shares of common stock of the Company at a per share price equal to $2.32, the closing market price of the shares of common stock on January 24, 2018, which option will vest over 60 months.

Mr. Horne’s bonuses, if any, and all stock based compensation shall be subject to “Company Clawback Rights” if during the period that Mr. Horne is employed by the Company and upon the termination of Mr. Horne’s employment and for a period of two years thereafter, if there is a restatement of any of the Company’s financial results from which any bonuses and stock based compensation to Mr. Horne shall have been determined.

Upon termination of Mr. Horne’s employment (other than upon the expiration of the employment), Mr. Horne shall be entitled to receive: (i) any earned but unpaid base salary through the termination date; (ii) all reasonable expenses paid or incurred; and (iii) any accrued but unused vacation time.

Further, unless Mr. Horne’s employment is terminated as a result of his death or disability or for cause or he terminates his employment without good reason, then upon the termination or non-renewal of Mr. Horne’s employment, the Company shall pay to Mr. Horne a “Separation Payment” as follows:  (A)  an amount equal to four weeks of base salary for each full year of service, (B) should Mr. Horne provide the Company with a separation, waiver and release agreement  within 60 days of termination, then the Company shall: (i) pay his base salary until the last to occur (the “Separation Period”) of (1) the expiration of the remaining portion of the initial term or the then applicable renewal term, as the case may be, or (2) the 12-month period commencing on the date Mr. Horne is terminated, payable in one lump sum; (ii) provide during the Separation Period the same medical, dental, long-term disability and life insurance; and (iii) pay an amount equal to the product obtained by multiplying (x) the maximum annual bonus as Mr. Horne would have been otherwise entitled to receive by (y) the fraction in which the numerator is the number of calendar months worked including the entire month in which severance occurred and the denominator of which is 12; and (iv) all outstanding options and other equity awards shall immediately vest and become fully exercisable for a period of 24 months.  Finally, upon the occurrence of a change in control, Mr. Horne will be paid an amount equal to four times his Separation Payment.

 

Advisory Vote on Executive Compensation

 

At the annual meeting of shareholders on December 28, 2016, the shareholders approved, on an advisory basis, the compensation paid to the Company’s named executive officers. In addition, shareholders voted, on an advisory basis, that an advisory vote on executive compensation should be held every three years.

 

Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End

 

The following table provides information on outstanding equity awards as of December 31, 2017 to the Named Executive Officer.

 

 

 

(1)

On November 3, 2016, Mr. Kohn was granted options to 1,000,000 shares of Common Stock at $0.65 per share. The options to purchase 1,000,000 shares of Common Stock are subject to the following vesting schedule: (1) options to purchase 500,000 shares of Common Stock shall vest upon the effective date; (2) options to purchase 250,000 shares of Common Stock shall vest ratably over six months beginning with the first month after the effective date; and (3) options to purchase 250,000 shares of common stock shall vest ratably over twelve months beginning with the first month after the effective date. In connection with the grant of options to purchase 1,000,000 shares of Common Stock, Mr. Kohn forfeited options to purchase 535,000 shares of common stock previously granted to him under the Company’s 2012 Plan.

 

(2)

Represents warrants to purchase 317,460 shares of the Company's Common Stock at an exercise price of $0.01 per share subject to vesting quarterly over two years beginning January 1, 2017 granted to Mr. Kohn in connection with his employment agreement.

 

(3)

Represents options to purchase 100,000 shares of the Company's Common Stock at an exercise price of $1.38 per share subject to vesting monthly over four years beginning November 28, 2017 granted to Mr. Kohn.

 

(4)

Represents options to purchase 500,000 shares of the Company's Common Stock at an exercise price of $1.38 per share subject to vesting monthly over four years beginning November 28, 2017 granted to Mr. Ault.

 

Director Compensation

 

The Company pays each independent director an annual base amount of $20,000 annually, other than Mr. Smith, who will receive a base amount of $30,000 annually due to anticipated additional services to be provided by Mr. Smith as a lead independent director. Additionally, our Board makes recommendations for adjustments to an independent director’s compensation when the level of services provided are significantly above what was anticipated.

 

The table below sets forth, for each non-employee director, the total amount of compensation related to his or her service during the year ended December 31, 2017:

 

(1)

Ms. Ault resigned from the Board on January 25, 2018.

 

 

(2)

On November 28, 2017, Mr. Smith was granted options to purchase 200,000 shares of Common Stock at $1.38 per share. The options shall vest ratably over forty-eight (48) months beginning with the first month after the effective date.

 

(3)

On November 28, 2017, Ms. Ault and Messrs. Horne and Rosenberg were granted options to purchase 100,000 shares of Common Stock at $1.38 per share. The options shall vest ratably over forty-eight (48) months beginning with the first month after the effective date.

 

Stock Option Plans

 

On December 28, 2017, the shareholder’s approved the 2017 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2017 Stock Incentive Plan”), under which options to acquire up to 2,000,000 shares of common stock may be granted to the Company's directors, officers, employees and consultants. The 2017 Stock Incentive Plan is in addition to the Company’s (i) 2016 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2016 Stock Incentive Plan”), under which options to acquire up to 4,000,000 shares of common stock may be granted to the Company's directors, officers, employees and consultants, and (ii) 2012 Stock Option Plan, as amended (the “2012 Plan”), which provides for the issuance of a maximum of 1,372,630 shares of the Company’s common stock to be offered to the Company’s directors, officers, employees, and consultants (collectively the “Plans”).

 

The purpose of the Plans is to advance the interests of the Company by providing to key employees of the Company and its affiliates, who have substantial responsibility for the direction and management of the Company, as well as certain directors and consultants of the Company, additional incentives to exert their best efforts on behalf of the Company, to increase their proprietary interest in the success of the Company, to reward outstanding performance and to provide a means to attract and retain persons of outstanding ability to the service of the Company.

 

As of December 31, 2017, options to purchase 2,742,500 shares of common stock were issued and outstanding, and 2,538,832 shares are available for future issuance under the Plans.

401(k) Plan

 

We have adopted a tax-qualified employee savings and retirement plan, or 401(k) plan, which generally covers all of our full-time employees. Pursuant to the 401(k) plan, eligible employees may make voluntary contributions to the plan up to a maximum of 5% of eligible compensation. The 401(k) plan permits, but does not require, matching contributions by the Company on behalf of plan participants. We match contributions at the rate of (1) $1.00 for each $1.00 contributed, up to 3% of the base salary and (2) $0.50 for each $1.00 contributed thereafter, up to 5% of the base salary. We are also permitted under the plan to make discretionary contributions. The 401(k) plan is intended to qualify under Sections 401(k) and 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. Contributions to such a qualified plan are deductible by the Company when made, and neither the contributions nor the income earned on those contributions is taxable to plan participants until withdrawn. All 401(k) plan contributions are credited to separate accounts maintained in trust.

 

ITEM 12.

SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS.

 

Except as otherwise indicated below, the following table sets forth certain information regarding beneficial ownership of our common stock as of April 13, 2018 by (1) each of our current directors; (2) each of the named executive officers listed in the Summary Compensation Table located above in the section entitled “Executive Compensation” (3) each person known to us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of the outstanding shares of our common stock based upon Schedules 13G or 13D filed with the SEC; and (4) all of our directors and executive officers as a group. As of April 13, 2018, there were 43,562,860 shares of our common stock outstanding.

 

Beneficial ownership is determined in accordance with the rules of the SEC and includes voting or investment power with respect to the securities. Common stock subject to options or warrants that are currently exercisable or exercisable within 60 days of the Record Date are deemed to be outstanding and to be beneficially owned by the person or group holding such options or warrants for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of such person or group, but are not treated as outstanding for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of any other person or group. Unless otherwise indicated by footnote, to our knowledge, the persons named in the table have sole voting and sole investment power with respect to all common stock shown as beneficially owned by them, subject to applicable community property laws. Unless otherwise indicated below, the address of each beneficial owner listed below is c/o DPW Holdings, Inc., 48430 Lakeview Blvd, Fremont, California 94538.

 

 

*           Less than one percent.

ITEM 13.

CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE

 

The following information sets forth certain related transactions between us and certain of our shareholders or directors. Prior to September 22, 2016, Telkoor was our largest shareholder and Telkoor’s Chief Executive Officer, Benzi Diamant, was our Chairman of the Board. Effective September 22, 2016, Telkoor sold all of its shares of common stock of the Company to Philou Ventures, and as a result, Philou Ventures is our largest shareholder. Philou Ventures’ Manager is Kristine L. Ault, a former director. Ms. Ault is the spouse of Milton C. Ault, III, who is our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board.

 

Telkoor Telecom, Ltd.

 

As previously disclosed, on September 5, 2016, we entered into a securities purchase agreement with Philou Ventures, and Telkoor pursuant to which Philou agreed to purchase all of Telkoor’s 2,714,610 shares of the common stock in the Company, constituting approximately 40.06% of the Company’s then outstanding shares of common stock. In consideration for such shares, Philou agreed to pay Telkoor $1.5 million.

 

 

In conjunction with the securities purchase agreement, we entered into a rescission agreement with Telkoor in order to resolve all financial issues between the parties, including the repurchase by Telkoor of 1,136,666 shares of common stock of Telkoor beneficially owned by us for book value of $90,000.

 

Finally, as part of the securities purchase agreement, we have agreed to pay Mr. Diamant $7,500 for a period of eighteen months from September 5, 2016 for consulting services.

 

Purchase of IP by Digital Power Limited (“DPL”) from Telkoor Power Supplies (“TPS”)

 

On August 25, 2010, we and our wholly-owned subsidiary, DPL, entered into an agreement with TPS, a wholly-owned subsidiary of our largest then shareholder, Telkoor, of which Mr. Diamant is the Chief Executive Officer and controlling shareholder. Pursuant to such agreement, (1) TPS sold, assigned and conveyed to DPL all of its rights, title and interest in and to the intellectual property associated with the Compact Peripheral Component Interface 600 W AC/DC power supply series (the “Assets”) and (2) DPL granted to TPS an irrevocable license to sell the Assets in Israel on an exclusive basis. In consideration for the purchase of the Assets, DPL paid TPS $480,000. The consideration for the license provided to TPS to sell the Assets in Israel is a royalty fee of 15% of TPS's direct production costs of sales, due on a quarterly basis. In accordance with the agreement, the consideration for the IP may be reduced over a four-year period in the event annual sales for each year between 2011 and 2014 are less than a fixed threshold of units on an annual basis based upon an offset value per unit as described in the agreement. If there is a shortfall in sale of units in one annual period and in the subsequent period we sell more than the fixed unit threshold, this difference will be offset from any reduced consideration in any annual periods between 2011 and 2014. As a result of lower than anticipated sales by our DPL subsidiary of the Compact Peripheral Component Interface 600W AC/DC power supply series (CPCI 600W) through 2013, we amended our agreement with Telkoor (effective January 1, 2014 for the duration of the original agreement or until the shortfall of CPCI 600W product sales will be offset) to include additional products in addition to the original CPCI 600W product. As of December 31, 2015, the shortfall of sales of CPCI 600W products is greater than the outstanding royalties due. In January 2016, Telkoor sold its assets, including its subsidiary TPS, to Advice Electronics Ltd. Following this asset sale, the IP agreement between the Company and Telkoor was terminated.

 

Manufacturing Agreements with Telkoor and Advice Electronics Ltd.

 

On December 31, 2012, we entered into a Manufacturing Rights Agreement (the “Manufacturing Agreement”) with Telkoor, pursuant to which among other things, Telkoor granted us the non-exclusive right to directly place purchase orders for certain products from third party manufacturers for the purpose of marketing, selling and distributing the products for telecom, industrial, medical and military market segments in North and South America in consideration for the payment of royalty fees by us to Telkoor. The royalty fees paid by us to Telkoor under the Manufacturing Agreement are between 5% and 25%, depending on the product. The Manufacturing Agreement has a term of five years from the date of signature. During the agreement, Telkoor agreed not to directly or indirectly participate or engage or assist any other party in engaging or preparing to engage, our customers in North and South America in connection with the sale or distribution of any of the products under the Manufacturing Agreement.

 

In January 2016, Telkoor sold all its commercial IP to Advice Electronics Ltd. (“Advice”), an Israeli company. As part of the agreement with Advice, we entered into a new agreement with Advice, according to which our manufacturing rights for certain Telkoor products will be granted to us through August 2017 against royalty payments to Advice, after which we will be entitled to distribute the products under our branding until December 2020.

 

Philou Ventures, LLC

 

On March 9, 2017, we entered into a Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with Philou Ventures. Philou Ventures is the Company’s largest stockholder and Kristine L. Ault, a former director, controls and is a Manager of Philou Ventures. Pursuant to the terms of the Purchase Agreement, Philou Ventures may invest up to $5,000,000 in us through the purchase of Series B Preferred Stock (“Preferred Stock”) over the Term, as specified herein. Each share of Preferred Stock shall be purchased at $10.00 up to a maximum issuance of 500,000 shares of Preferred Stock. Philou Ventures guarantees to purchase by May 31, 2017, the greater of: (i) 100,000 shares of Preferred Stock or (ii) a sufficient number of shares of Preferred Stock to ensure that we have sufficient stockholders’ equity to meet the minimum continued listing standards of the NYSE American. In addition, for as long as the Preferred Stock is outstanding, Philou Ventures agrees to purchase additional shares of Preferred Stock in a sufficient amount in order us to meet the NYSE American’s minimum stockholders’ equity continued listing requirement subject to the maximum number of 500,000 shares of Preferred Stock (collectively, “Guaranteed Purchases”). In addition, at any time during the Term, Philou Ventures may in its sole and absolute discretion purchase additional shares of Preferred Stock, up to the 500,000 share maximum (“Voluntary Purchases”). All consideration for Voluntary Purchases shall be delivered through a series of varying payments (“Payments”) by Philou Ventures, at its sole and absolute discretion, during the period commencing on the closing date and ending 36 months therefrom (the “Term”). We have the right to request, with 90-day written notice to Philou Ventures, that Guaranteed Purchases be accelerated to meet deadlines for maintaining the minimum stockholders’ equity required by the NYSE American. The Preferred Stock shall not be callable by us for 25 years from the closing date.

 

 

In addition, for each share of Preferred Stock purchased by Philou Ventures, Philou Ventures will receive warrants to purchase shares of common stock in a number equal to the stated value of each share of Preferred Stock of $10.00 purchased divided by $0.70 at an exercise price equal to $0.70 per share of common stock

 

Further, Philou Ventures shall have the right to participate in our future financings under substantially the same terms and conditions as other investors in those respective financings in order to maintain its then percentage ownership interest. Philou Ventures’ right to participate in such financings shall accrue and accumulate provided that it still owns at least 100,000 shares of Preferred Stock.

 

On December 29, 2016, MCKEA Holdings, LLC (“MCKEA”) lent us $250,000 in the form of a demand note bearing simple interest at 6.0%. MCKEA is the majority member of Philou Ventures, LLC, which is the Company’s controlling shareholder. Kristine L. Ault, a former director and the wife of Milton C. Ault III, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Company’s Board of Directors, is the manager and owner of MCKEA. On March 24, 2017, MCKEA cancelled the $250,000 demand note to purchase 25,000 shares of Preferred Stock and received warrants to purchase 357,143 shares of common stock at $0.70 per share.

 

On March 20, 2017, Philou arranged for the Company to receive a $250 short-term loan. Between May 5, 2017 and June 2, 2017, Philou purchased an additional 75,000 shares of Series B Preferred Stock pursuant to the Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement in consideration of the cancellation of the Company debt due to Philou from the $250 short term loan and cash of $500. In addition, Philou received warrants to purchase 1,071,429 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.70 per share of common stock.

Avalanche International, Corp.

 

On October 5, 2016, November 30, 2016, and February 22, 2017, the Company entered into three 12% Convertible Promissory Notes with Avalanche (the “AVLP Notes”) in the principal amount of $525,000 each. The AVLP Notes included a 5% original issue discount, resulting in net loans to Avalanche of $1,500,000 and an original issue discount of $75,000. The AVLP notes accrued interest at 12% per annum and were due on or before two years from the origination dates of each note. The Company had the right, at its option, to convert all or any portion of the principal and accrued interest into shares of common stock of Avalanche at approximately $0.74536 per share. Subject to adjustment, the AVLP Notes, inclusive of the original issue discount, were convertible into 2,113,086 shares of the Company’s common stock. During the period from March 29, 2017 to August 16, 2017, the Company funded $1,808,952 in excess of the $1,500,000 net loan amount required pursuant to the terms of the AVLP Notes

On September 6, 2017, the Company and Avalanche entered into a Loan and Security Agreement (“AVLP Loan Agreement”) with an effective date of August 21, 2017 pursuant to which the Company will provide Avalanche a non-revolving credit facility of up to $5,000,000, inclusive of prior amounts loaned to AVLP, for a period ending on August 21, 2019.

In consideration of entering into the AVLP Loan Agreement, the Company and Avalanche cancelled the AVLP Notes and consolidated the AVLP Notes and prior advances totaling $3,308,952 plus original issue discount of $165,448 and issued a new Convertible Promissory Note in the aggregate principal amount of $3,474,400 (the “New Note”) that is convertible into shares of Avalanche at a conversion price of $0.50 per share. The New Note is due in two years and accrues interest at 12% per annum on the principal amount. Prior interest accrued under the AVLP Notes and advances will continue to be an obligation of Avalanche. The New Note contains standard events of defaults. In addition, concurrent to issuing the New Note, Avalanche issued to the Company a five-year warrant to purchase 6,948,800 shares of Avalanche Common Stock at $0.50 per share. Future advances under the AVLP Loan Agreement, which totaled $649,820 at December 31, 2017, are evidenced by a convertible promissory note containing a conversion price feature of $0.50 per share and warrant with an exercise price of $0.50 per share. Further, under the terms of the AVLP Loan Agreement, any notes issued by Avalanche are secured by the assets of AVLP.

 

 

At December 31, 2017, the Company had provided Avalanche with $4,124,220 pursuant to the non-revolving credit facility. The warrants issued in conjunction with the non-revolving credit facility entitles the Company to purchase up to 8,248,440 shares of Avalanche common stock at an exercise price of $0.50 per share for a period of five years. The exercise price of $0.50 is subject to adjustment for customary stock splits, stock dividends, combinations or similar events. The warrants may be exercised for cash or on a cashless basis.

Avalanche is a holding company which on August 22, 2017, pursuant to the terms of a Share Exchange Agreement dated as of March 3, 2017, and as amended on July 13, 2017 and August 21, 2017 (the “Exchange Agreement”) with MTIX Ltd., a company formed under the laws of England and Wales (“MTIX”) and the three (3) shareholders of MTIX (the “Sellers”), Avalanche completed its acquisition of MTIX. Upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Exchange Agreement, Avalanche acquired MTIX from the Sellers through the transfer of all issued and outstanding ordinary shares of MTIX (the “MTIX Shares”) by the Sellers to Avalanche in exchange (the “Exchange”) for the issuance by Avalanche of: (a) 7% secured convertible promissory notes (individually, a “Note” and collectively, the “Notes”) in the aggregate principal face amount of $9,500,000 to the Sellers in pro rata amounts commensurate with their current respective ownership percentages of MTIX’s ordinary shares, (b) (i) $500,000 in cash, $50,000 of which was paid on October 26, 2016, and (ii) 100,000 shares of Avalanche’s newly designated shares of Class B Convertible Preferred Stock (the “Class B Shares”) to the principal shareholder of MTIX (the “Majority Shareholder”).

 

Milton C. Ault, III and William Horne, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, respectively, and two of our directors, are directors of Avalanche. In addition, Philou Ventures is the controlling shareholder of Avalanche as well as our largest shareholder.

MTIX Limited

 

MTIX has developed a novel cost effective and environmentally friendly material synthesis technology for textile applications. Designed for global textile manufacturers, the Multiplex Laser Surface Enhancement (“MLSE”) plasma-laser system uses a combination of plasma and photonic energy to effect material synthesis of a substrate surface. The laser and gasses from the system deliver a dry process to enhance the surface of fabric. During March 2017 the Company was awarded a 3-year, $50 million contract by MTIX to manufacture, install and service the MLSE plasma-laser system. The Company has recognized $923,751 in revenue from MTIX, all of which was reflected as accounts receivable, related party at December 31, 2017.

On December 5, 2017, the Company entered into an exchange agreement with WT Johnson & Sons (Huddersfield) Limited (the “Holder”), pursuant to which the Company issued to the Holder, (a) a convertible promissory note in the principal amount of $600,000 (“Note A”), and (b) a convertible promissory note in the principal amount of $1,667,766 (“Note B”), in exchange for cancellation of (i) an outstanding loan made by the Holder to MTIX in the amount of $265,666; and (ii) cancellation of an aggregate of $2,002,500 owed by MTIX to the Holder pursuant to an Agreement for the Sale and Purchase of a Textile Multi-Laser Enhancement Technology Machine dated as of July 21, 2017 by and between MTIX and the Holder.

 

Note A is convertible into the Company’s common stock at a conversion price of $1.00 per share, does not bear interest, and matures two years from issuance. Note B is convertible into the Company’s common stock at a conversion price of $0.85 per share, does not bear interest, and matures two years from issuance. However, the Holder shall not have the right to convert any portion of Note B, following receipt by the Holder of an aggregate of $2,267,766 of gross proceeds from the sale of shares of Common Stock issued upon conversion of Note A or Note B.

During December 2017, the Company issued 600,000 shares of its common stock upon the conversion of Note A and the Holder notified the Company that gross proceeds during the month of December 2017 from sales of the 600,000 shares of common stock were sufficient to satisfy the entire $2,267,766 obligation. As a result of entering into the exchange agreement with the Holder, MTIX is obligated to pay the Company $2,668,266, consisting of the amount of the exchange agreement of $2,267,766 and a value added tax of $400,500 from the sale of the Textile Multi-Laser Enhancement Technology Machine.

 

 

ITEM 14.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES.

 

Marcum LLP serves as our independent registered public accounting firm for the year ended December 31, 2017 and 2016. Kost Forer Gabbay & Kasierer, a member of Ernst & Young Global (“Kost Forer”) was our prior independent registered public accounting firm.

 

Fees and Services

 

The following table shows the aggregate fees billed to us for professional services by Marcum LLP, respectively, for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016:

     

		2017				2016
Audit Services		$	313,986			$	81,545
Audit Related Services		$	—			$	—
Tax Services		$	—			$	—
All Other Services		$	—			$	—
Total		$	313,986			$	81,545

    

Audit Fee. This category includes the aggregate fees billed for professional services rendered for the audits of our financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, for the reviews of the financial statements included in our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q during 2017 and 2016, and for other services that are normally provided by the independent auditors in connection with statutory and regulatory filings or engagements for the relevant years.

 

Audit-Related Fees. This category includes the aggregate fees billed in each of the last two years for assurance and related services by the independent auditors that are reasonably related to the performance of the audits or reviews of the financial statements and are not reported above under “Audit Fees,” and generally consist of fees for other engagements under professional auditing standards, accounting and reporting consultations, internal control-related matters, and audits of employee benefit plans.

 

Tax Fees. This category includes the aggregate fees billed in each of the last two years for professional services rendered by the independent auditors for tax compliance, tax planning and tax advice.

 

All Other Fees. This category includes the aggregate fees billed in each of the last two years for products and services provided by the independent auditors that are not reported above under “Audit Fees,” “Audit-Related Fees,” or “Tax Fees.”

 

The Audit Committee’s policy is to pre-approve all services provided by our independent auditors. These services may include audit services, audit-related services, tax services and other services. The Audit Committee may also pre-approve particular services on a case-by-case basis. Our independent auditors are required to report periodically to the Audit Committee regarding the extent of services they provide in accordance with such pre-approval.

 

 

 

PART IV

ITEM 15.

EXHIBITS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_______________________

 

 

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

Dated:  April 17, 2018

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant and in the capacities indicated.

 

 

 

 

ITEM 8.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

DPW HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

 

 

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

 

 

DPW HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

U.S. dollars in thousands, except share data

 

		December 31,
		2017				2016
ASSETS
CURRENT ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents		$	1,478			$	996
Marketable securities			1,835				—
Accounts receivable			1,898				1,439
Accounts and other receivable, related party			174				—
Inventories, net			1,993				1,122
Prepaid expenses and other current assets			1,407				285
TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS			8,785				3,842
Intangible assets			2,898				—
Goodwill			3,652				—
Property and equipment, net			1,217				570
Investments - related party, net of original issue discount of $2,115
and $45, respectively			2,333				965
Investments in warrants and common stock - related party			7,728				84
Investment in preferred stock of private company			1,000				—
Other investments			1,637				—
Other investments, related parties			917				—
Other assets			343				11
TOTAL ASSETS		$	30,510			$	5,472
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
CURRENT LIABILITIES
Accounts payable and accrued expenses		$	4,273			$	1,231
Accounts payable and accrued expenses, related party			70				—
Advances on future receipts			1,963				—
Short term advances			2,439				—
Short term advances, related party			245				—
Revolving credit facility			388				—
Notes payable			402				—
Notes payable, related party			134				250
Convertible notes payable			398				—
Other current liabilities			708				398
TOTAL CURRENT LIABILITIES			11,020				1,879
LONG TERM LIABILITIES
Notes payable			525				—
Notes payable, related parties			175				—
Convertible notes payable, related party, net of discount of $496			—				34
TOTAL LIABILITIES		$	11,720			$	1,913

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

 

 

DPW HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (continued)

U.S. dollars in thousands, except share data

 

		December 31,
		2017				2016
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
Preferred Stock, $0.01 par value, designated in the following classes		$	—			$	—
25,000,000 shares authorized; 478,776 and nil shares issued and outstanding
at December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively
Series A Convertible Preferred Stock, $0.001 par value –			—				—
500,000 shares authorized; nil shares issued and outstanding at
December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016
Series B Convertible Preferred Stock, $10 stated value per			—				—
share, $0.001 par value – 500,000 shares authorized; 100,000 and nil
shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2017 and December 31,
2016, respectively (liquidation preference of $1,000 and nil at
December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively)
Series C Convertible Preferred Stock, $2.40 stated value			—				—
per share, $0.001 par value – 460,000 shares authorized; nil shares
issued and outstanding at December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016
Series D Convertible Preferred Stock, $0.01 stated value			—				—
per share, $0.001 par value – 378,776 shares authorized; 378,776 and
nil shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2017 and December
31, 2016, respectively (liquidation preference of $4)
Series E Convertible Preferred Stock, $45 stated value per			—				—
share, $0.001 par value – 10,000 shares authorized; nil shares issued and
outstanding at December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016
Preferred Stock, $0.001 par value – 23,151,224 shares authorized; nil shares			—				—
issued and outstanding at December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016
Class A Common Stock, $0.001 par value – 200,000,000 shares authorized;
30,222,299 and 7,677,637 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2017			30				8
and 2016, respectively
Class B Common Stock, $0.001 par value – 25,000,000 shares authorized; nil			—				—
shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016
Additional paid-in capital			36,888				16,529
Accumulated deficit			(23,412	)			(12,158	)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss			4,503				(820	)
TOTAL DIGITAL POWER STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY			18,009				3,559
Non-controlling interest			781				—
TOTAL STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY			18,790				3,559
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY		$	30,510			$	5,472