Key Takeaways:
Forward Industries' bid to consolidate the Solana digital asset treasury sector met resistance from three acquisition targets, even as its stock climbed 8.6%.
Forward Industries saw its stock rise as much as 8.6% on Tuesday after three Solana digital asset treasury companies rejected or ignored its acquisition proposals, according to market data.
"I don't think there needs to be 20 Solana DATs," Ryan Navi, Forward's chief investment officer, said.
Forward controls more than 7 million SOL tokens valued at roughly $525 million, making it the largest Solana digital asset treasury operator by holdings, according to CoinGecko data. The company paid nearly $1.6 billion to acquire those tokens, resulting in an unrealized loss exceeding $1 billion. Navi estimated Forward's quarterly selling, general, and administrative expenses at about $4.5 million.
Forward is scheduled for inclusion in the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 indexes at the end of June, a development expected to attract passive investment flows into the stock.
Three Targets Push Back
Solana Company, which trades under the HSDT ticker, rejected Forward's all-stock acquisition proposal on June 12. The offer would have granted HSDT shareholders 0.386 Forward shares for each share held, valuing HSDT at $1.63 per share. The board said the proposal "substantially undervalues the company" and voted unanimously to decline.
Brera Holdings dismissed a separate nonbinding all-stock proposal from Forward on June 9 that valued its shares at $7.19 each. SkyAI received an offer pricing its shares at $1.55 but let the proposal expire without a formal response.
Forward said it was "disappointed and surprised" by HSDT's rejection without any dialogue.
Solmate, another acquisition target, delivered a more aggressive response. In its June 12 rejection letter, Solmate accused Forward of secretly coordinating with market maker RockawayX and investor Viktor Fischer as an undisclosed group, characterizing the approach as a hostile takeover attempt. Forward denied the allegations, calling them baseless.
Consolidation Pressure Mounts
HSDT shares fell as much as 6% on Tuesday. Solmate gained more than 11%, while SkyAI advanced 2%.
August Widmer, a partner at Echo Base, said consolidation may be the only sustainable path for the sector. He suggested the rejections indicate smaller operators have not yet accepted this market reality.
"There's still further to fall in this market before that reality is accepted," Widmer said.
Navi noted that many smaller DAT operations may struggle to cover their operating costs even when generating full staking rewards. With Forward's quarterly expenses at $4.5 million and its SOL holdings generating staking yield, the company is positioned to weather the downturn while smaller players face mounting pressure to merge or exit.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
