Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Investment in Unconsolidated Affiliate

v3.19.3
Investment in Unconsolidated Affiliate
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2019
Equity Method Investments and Joint Ventures [Abstract]  
Investment in Unconsolidated Affiliate
Investment in Unconsolidated Affiliate

On January 30, 2019, the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Ekso Bionics, Inc. (“Ekso US”), entered into an agreement (the “JV Agreement”) with Zhejiang Youchuang Venture Capital Investment Co., Ltd (“ZYVC”) and another partner (collectively, the “JV Partners”) to establish Exoskeleton Intelligent Robotics Co. Limited (the “Investee” or the "China JV"), a Chinese limited liability company designed to develop and serve the exoskeleton market in China and other Asian markets and to create a global exoskeleton manufacturing center in the Zhejiang Province of China.

The Company has the right to receive a 20% ownership interest in the Investee in exchange for the successful transfer of licenses for its manufacturing technology and relevant Chinese patent rights (the “IP”). The Company will also be entitled to receive royalties on the Investee’s medical and industrial product sales in China, including Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. The Company has one year from the date of the Investee’s formation to complete the transfer of the IP. Since the transferred IP was developed internally by the Company, all previous expenditures to develop the technology were recognized as expense in the period incurred and there was no carrying value on the Company’s consolidated balance sheet. The Company expects that it will recognize a gain on the technology license agreement to be entered into related to the IP transfer based on the fair value of the Company’s equity interest in the Investee once control of the IP is transferred.

The Investee is a VIE for which the Company is not the primary beneficiary as the Company does not have the power to direct the activities that most significantly influence the economic performance of the entity. In addition to the Company’s exchange of license rights for the manufacturing technology, the Investee will be capitalized through cash investments of up to approximately $92,000 by the JV Partners over the initial ten-year term of the JV Agreement. The investment in the Investee is accounted for under the equity method of accounting because the Company has significant influence over the Investee through its ownership interest, technology license and manufacturing service agreements and representation on the board of directors. As of September 30, 2019, there was no impact to the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheet except for the direct transaction costs which have been capitalized and will be included as part of the investment balance when the IP is transferred. Direct costs of $36 are included in other assets in the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheets as of September 30, 2019. In addition to contributing the licensed IP, the Company’s obligations to the Investee include assisting the Investee to become proficient in using the IP to manufacture products that meet regulatory standards, and providing supervision of appointed directors. The primary risks that the Company is exposed to from its involvement with the VIE include operational risk, foreign currency exposure risk and foreign regulatory risk. As of September 30, 2019, the Company has no other implied or unfunded commitments related to the Investee and its maximum exposure to risk of loss will be limited to the carrying value of the investment.
On April 30, 2019, Ekso US, the Company and the JV Partners entered into an amendment to the JV Agreement (the “JV Amendment”). Among certain other clarifying changes, the JV Amendment reduces the amount of capital contributions required to be made by the JV Partners within 90 days of the formation of the China JV from 30% (or RMB 187.2 million) to 10% (or RMB 62.4 million) and requires that the JV Partners contribute RMB 124.8 million of their capital contributions upon notice by the China JV based on the China JV’s then-current operating plan. The remaining RMB 436.8 million capital contribution of the JV Partners will be paid by them within the 10 years after the formation of the China JV as previously contemplated under the JV Agreement.

Equity Investments

Concurrent with the signing of the JV Agreement, ZYVC or its designees agreed to invest an aggregate of $10,000 in equity investments in the Company, taking place in two tranches. On January 30, 2019, the Company executed a Share Purchase Agreement (the “SPA”) under which the Company sold 3,067 shares of its common stock for $5,000 at a purchase price of $1.63 per share. The SPA contains an anti-dilution right for a 60-day period after closing, under which the investors were entitled to receive additional common shares if the Company had issued shares at a price below $1.63 during that period. This provision expired unexercised for all investors in April 2019. The Company recorded $8 in direct issuance costs as a reduction to the gross equity proceeds.

The remaining $5,000 investment by the China JV or ZYVC or its designees is contingent upon the China JV shipping the first batch of EksoGT, EksoVest and EksoZeroG products to Ekso Bionics, its affiliates or a third party. The investment will be made through the purchase of shares of the Company's common stock at a per share price equal to the volume weighted average price of 20 trading days before the issue date, but with a collar so that the equity price will be no greater than 20% of the first investment price.