Solana treasury company SkyAI has sold approximately 1 million SOL, representing half of its cryptocurrency reserves, to fund a planned $201 million share buyback program. According to an October 11 company announcement, the Nasdaq-listed firm will use existing cash and proceeds from Solana sales to repurchase up to 95% of its outstanding shares and warrants at $3 each. The tender offer is expected to begin around October 15 and remain open for 10 business days, unless extended or terminated earlier. The $3.00 per share purchase price represents a 65% premium to SkyAI's October 9 closing share price and more than double its 60-day volume-weighted average trading price. The offer covers up to 46.37 million common shares and 20.72 million warrants, representing a maximum aggregate purchase price of approximately $201 million.
Latest data from Lookonchain reveals that SkyAI has sold 1 million SOL worth approximately $107 million over the past two days, bringing its total October disposals to 1.57 million SOL out of its initial 2 million SOL holdings. The firm initially held 2 million SOL worth $214 million but has now sold 1 million SOL at an average purchase price of about $194 per SOL, resulting in unrealized losses exceeding $160 million. This follows earlier transactions where wallets linked to SkyAI transferred 468,000 SOL valued at approximately $51.1 million within 24 hours, with 218,000 SOL going to multiple centralized exchanges and another 250,000 SOL transferred to BitGo. SkyAI retains approximately 1 million SOL tokens in its corporate treasury.
The proposed buyback price of $3 per security represents a 65% premium to SkyAI's October 9 closing share price and more than double its 60-day volume-weighted average trading price. However, SkyAI's token sales have contributed to recent price pressure, with SOL dropping to $108.30 after a 3.5% decline in the past 24 hours and a 13% drop year-to-date. The company said it was monitoring Solana's market price and could sell more tokens depending on market conditions. SkyAI had previously disclosed holdings exceeding 2 million SOL in September before recent transactions reduced its reported treasury balance. The company intends to finance the repurchases without additional borrowing, with its board stating the combined value of available cash and digital assets exceeded the maximum transaction amount.
The planned buyback follows SkyAI's decision to reject an unsolicited acquisition proposal from fellow Solana treasury company Forward Industries. Under the latest proposal, Forward offered 0.306 shares of its common stock for each SkyAI share. SkyAI's Board of Directors unanimously rejected the unsolicited, non-binding takeover proposal from Forward Industries FWDI, with the special committee working with independent advisers reviewing the proposed exchange ratio and concluding that Forward's proposal undervalued SkyAI and was not in shareholders' best interests. Forward has pursued a different approach, reporting the purchase of more than 500,000 SOL during its fiscal third quarter and completing a $25 million registered direct offering in September.
Completion of the tender offer depends on several conditions, including at least 50% of each eligible securities class being tendered and not withdrawn before the deadline. SkyAI's solvency must be maintained throughout the offer period, with Solana's closing price required to remain above $100 per SOL throughout the offer period. The company has suspended purchases under its existing share repurchase program and will not resume separate repurchases until at least 10 business days after the tender offer expires. Following the proposed transaction, SkyAI intends to continue developing the AI financial platform outlined in its May 2026 strategic transformation announcement. Despite the current sell-off pressure, the cumulative SOL DAT has seen a 6.9% increase, suggesting some market optimism remains.
