LiveOne, Inc. Debt Disclosure

Note 8 — PodcastOne Bridge Loan

 

PodcastOne’s Private Placement

 

On July 15, 2022 (the “Closing Date”), PodcastOne completed a private placement offering (the “PC1 Bridge Loan”) of PodcastOne’s unsecured convertible notes with an original issue discount of 10% (the “OID”) in the aggregate principal amount of $8.8 million (the “PC1 Notes”) to certain accredited investors and institutional investors (collectively, the “Purchasers”), for gross proceeds of $8.0 million pursuant to the Subscription Agreements entered into with the Purchasers (the “Subscription Agreements”). In connection with the sale of the PC1 Notes, the Purchasers received warrants (the “PC1 Warrants”) to purchase a number of shares (the “PC1 Warrant Shares”) of PodcastOne’s common stock, par value $0.00001 per share. The PC1 Notes were due to mature one year from the Closing Date, subject to a one-time three-month extension at PodcastOne’s election (the “Maturity Date”). The PC1 Notes bear interest at a rate of 10% per annum payable on maturity. The PC1 Notes would automatically convert into the securities of PodcastOne sold in a Qualified Financing (an initial public offering of PodcastOne’s securities from which PodcastOne’s trading market at the closing of such offering is a national securities exchange) or Qualified Event (a direct listing of PodcastOne’s securities on a national securities exchange), as applicable, upon the closing of a Qualified Financing or Qualified Event, as applicable, at a price per share equal to the lesser of (i) the price equal to $60.0 million divided by the aggregate number of shares of PodcastOne’s common stock outstanding immediately prior to the closing of a Qualified Financing or Qualified Event, as applicable (assuming full conversion or exercise of all convertible and exercisable securities of PodcastOne then outstanding, subject to certain exceptions), and (ii) 70% of the offering price of the shares (or whole units, as applicable) in the Qualified Financing or 70% of the initial listing price of the shares on a national securities exchange in the Qualified Event, as applicable. Each holder of the PC1 Notes (other than the Company) could have at such holder’s option required PodcastOne to redeem up to 45% of the principal amount of such holder’s PC1 Notes (together with accrued interest thereon, but excluding the OID), in aggregate up to $3,000,000 for all of the PC1 Notes (other than those held by the Company), immediately prior to the completion of a Qualified Financing or a Qualified Event, as applicable, with such redemption to have been made pro rata to the redeeming holders of the PC1 Notes (the “Optional Redemption”).

 

The Company also agreed (i) not to effect a Qualified Financing or a Qualified Event, as applicable, unless immediately following such event the Company owns no less than 66% of PodcastOne’s equity, unless in either case otherwise permitted by the written consent of the holders of the majority of the PC1 Notes (excluding the Company) (the “Majority Noteholders”) and the senior lender, as applicable, (ii) that until a Qualified Financing or a Qualified Event, as applicable, is consummated, the Company guaranteed the repayment of the PC1 Notes when due (other than the Bridge Notes issued to LiveOne) and any interest or other fees due thereunder, and (iii) that if PodcastOne had not consummated a Qualified Financing or a Qualified Event, as applicable, by February 15, 2023, March 15, 2023 or April 15, 2023, unless in either case permitted by the written consent of the Majority Noteholders, PodcastOne was required to redeem $1,000,000 of the then outstanding PC1 Notes (other than the PC1 Notes issued to the Company) by the tenth calendar day of each month immediately following such respective date, up to an aggregate redemption of $3,000,000 over the course of such three months, each of which was to be distributed to the holders of the Bridge Notes (other than the Company) on a prorated basis (the “Early Redemption”).

 

PodcastOne further agreed to register the shares of its common stock issuable upon conversion of the PC1 Notes and exercise of the PC1 Warrants in connection with a Qualified Financing or a Qualified Event. If PodcastOne did not file such registration statement on or prior to April 15, 2023, PodcastOne was required to prepay $1,000,000 of the PC1 Notes pro rata to the PC1 Notes holders (other than the Company), and if PodcastOne did not file such registration statement on or prior to July 15, 2023, PodcastOne was required to prepay $2,000,000 of the PC1 Notes pro rata to the PC1 Notes holders (other than the Company) (the “Reg St Redemption”). PodcastOne was not required to redeem or repay more than a total of $3,000,000 of the principal amount of the PC1 Notes as a result of the Optional Redemption, the Early Redemption and/or the Reg St Redemption. As a result of not completing the Qualified Event, as of April 15, 2023, PodcastOne purchased $3.0 million (excluding the OID) worth of PC1 Notes which have been eliminated in the consolidation presentation, but otherwise remain issued and outstanding.

 

On September 8, 2023, PodcastOne completed a Qualified Event (its spin out from the Company to become a standard publicly trading company (the “Spin-Out”)) as a result of its direct listing on The NASDAQ Capital Market on such date (the "Direct Listing"). In connection with such completed Qualified Event, all of the remaining PC1 Notes (including interest thereunder) in the aggregate amount of approximately $7.02 million converted into approximately 2,341,000 shares of PodcastOne’s common stock. 

 

Warrants

 

The PC1 Warrants were classified as liabilities as they represent an obligation to deliver a variable number of shares of common stock in the future and are therefore required to be initially and subsequently measured at fair value each reporting period. The Company recorded a warrant liability in the amount of $1.7 million (and reduced the proceeds allocated to the PC1 Notes accordingly). The fair value of the PC1 Warrant liability is remeasured each reporting period using a Black Scholes model, and the change in fair value is recorded as an adjustment to the PC1 Warrant liability with the unrealized gains or losses reflected in other income (expense). On September 8, 2023, as a result of the Direct Listing and PodcastOne's shares of common stock becoming publicly traded, the warrant liability was reclassified to equity as the number and the exercise price of the warrants was settled at 3,114,001 warrants with an exercise price of $3.00 per warrant per the warrant agreement.

 

The fair value of the PC1 Warrants is measured in accordance with ASC 820 “Fair Value Measurement”, using “Monte Carlo simulation” modeling, incorporating the following inputs: 

 

		September 8,				March 31,
		2023				2023
Expected dividend yield			-	%			-	%
Expected stock-price volatility			71.10	%			71.50	%
Risk-free interest rate			4.43	%			4.86	%
Simulated share price		$	4.39			$	2.54
Exercise price		$	3.00			$	2.64

 

Total loss of $4.0 million for warrant liabilities accounted for as derivatives have been recorded in other expense for the year ended March 31, 2024. The fair value of the warrants as of September 8, 2023 was $5.9 million and was classified as equity as the warrants were exercisable for a fixed price of $3.00. As of March 31, 2025, 3,114,001 warrants of PodcastOne remain outstanding and none have been exercised.

 

Redemption Features

 

The Company determined that the redemption features associated with the PC1 Bridge Loan meet the accounting definition of an embedded derivative that must be separated from the PC1 Bridge Loan and initially and subsequently be reported as a liability (“the Redemption Liability”) and measured at fair value. The fair value of the Redemption Liability was determined using a Monte Carlo simulation model using three scenarios (1) redemption prior to the initial maturity date (65% weighted), (2) redemption at the initial maturity date (25% weighted) and (3) redemption after the initial maturity date (10% weighted).

 

The fair value of the redemption features are measured in accordance with ASC 820 “Fair Value Measurement”, using “Monte Carlo simulation” modeling, incorporating the following inputs: 

 

		March 31,
		2023
Simulations			100,000
Expected stock-price volatility			71.50	%
Risk-free interest rate			4.86	%
Conversion price		$	2.54
Stock price		$	2.64

 

The fair value of the Redemption Liability was none at March 31, 2024 and was eliminated as the PC1 Notes were converted into PodcastOne's common stock, and therefore the derivative component was cancelled. The $0.2 million change in the fair value of the Redemption Liability derivative as of September 8, 2023 was recorded as an unrealized loss and included in other income for the year ended March 31, 2024.

 

The resulting discount from the OID, underwriting fees, PC1 Warrants, and embedded Redemption Liability derivative of $2.8 million is being amortized to interest expense through July 15, 2023, the expected term of the Bridge Loan, using the effective interest method. Interest expense resulting from the amortization of the discount for the year ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 was none and $1.1 million, respectively. 

 

Interest expense with respect to the PC1 Notes for the year ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 was none and $0.2 million, respectively.