So I’m scanning the news and see this item about Power Technology, a publicly traded company based in Austin. But their phone number is in Houston and their press release comes from Houston. Totally confusing. I did a little homework and here is what I came up with.

The company seems to be in an interesting area, more efficient battery technology. They have a technology that can make lighter weight, longer lasting batteries. We’re talking bigger sizes of batteries, not consumer AAA - D size. With the green revolution, what’s not to love?

First of all the company posts a business plan on it’s website. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. In mid-2005 everything was good, and they had a commitment for $5M in private funding. They do have some revenues, but it’s not from product sales. It comes from "other income."

• April of 2006 they sign an agreement to purchase Sentry Power for $960,000 in common stock and the assumption of $235,000 in debt
• February 1, 2007 they hire Tim Connolly to provide strategic advisory services and they pay him $6,100 for 3 days of work per month
• May 1st they disclose that they’re not going to file timely reports with the SEC (usually not a good sign)
• May 3, 2007 they announce that they’re exploring strategic alternatives (which is business speak that means we don’t have enough cash to keep the doors open)
• May 22nd suddenly a white knight appears to buy the previous Sentry Power unit for $1M in publicly traded acquirors stock (identity undisclosed). How amazing that management can pull a deal together just 19 days after the announcement!

So how has the stock performed? Well, it’s over the counter to begin with. Most days the stock doesn’t trade any shares. That means that any buying or selling activity can lead to drastic swings of 100% quite easily. Daytraders don’t get your hopes up though as those swings can be from $0.03/share to $0.06/share in a very thinly traded stock. The high price I could find is $1.80 back in 2000. The 365 day low is today at $0.03.

I’m still struggling to find the Austin connection here, other than an address. The CTO lives in Vancouver, and the deal makers are in Houston. As Gordon Gecko would say, it’s not just a dog, it’s a dog with fleas. Lets hope they can turn these publicly traded shares from the acquiror into cash to support the manufacturing of their product line. They’ve spent about $13M in pursuit of that goal so far.

You can’t run the 100 yard dash and give up on the last 10 yards.

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