Agora, Inc. Announces Voluntary Lock-ups by Senior Management

Rhea-AI Summary

Agora Inc (NASDAQ: API) announced that its senior management team has voluntarily entered into a lock-up period from December 2, 2024, to December 31, 2025. The initiative includes CEO Tony Zhao, CTO Shawn Zhong, CFO Jingbo Wang, and VP Robbin Liu, who have committed not to sell their beneficially owned shares during this period. The only exception is CTO Shawn Zhong, who is permitted to sell up to 0.4 million ADSs by December 31, 2024, for personal financial reasons.

Positive

• Senior management's voluntary lock-up demonstrates confidence in company's long-term value
• Lock-up period extends for over one year, showing long-term commitment from executives

Negative

• CTO plans to sell 0.4 million ADSs (1.6 million class A shares) by end of 2024

Insights

Financial Analyst

The voluntary lock-up agreement from Agora's senior management team represents a significant insider confidence signal, though it comes with mixed implications. While the extended lock-up period until December 31, 2025, demonstrates management's long-term commitment, the 0.4 million ADS sale allowance for CTO Sheng Zhong partially dilutes this positive message. For a company with a relatively modest $504.5 million market cap, insider selling can impact market sentiment.

The lock-up covers all executive officers, including the founder/CEO, CTO, CFO and VP, which is comprehensive. However, investors should note that Agora's stock has faced significant pressure, down over 80% from its IPO price. This lock-up may be an attempt to stabilize market confidence rather than a purely bullish signal. The dual-brand structure between Agora and Shengwang, operating in US and China markets respectively, adds complexity to evaluating this commitment's impact on shareholder value.

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Dec. 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Agora, Inc. (NASDAQ: API) (the “Company”), a pioneer and leader in real-time engagement technology, today announced the Company’s senior management team have voluntarily entered into a lock-up period commencing from today and expiring on December 31, 2025.

For the purpose of expressing confidence in the long term value of the Company, Mr. Bin (Tony) Zhao, founder, chairman and CEO of the Company, Mr. Sheng (Shawn) Zhong, CTO and Chief Scientist of the Company, Mr. Jingbo Wang, CFO of the Company and Mr. Robbin Liu, Vice President of the Company, who comprise all executive officers of the Company, voluntarily undertook, pursuant to the terms contained in the letters of undertaking given to the Company, that they and entities controlled by them shall not in their discretions sell any shares of the Company directly or indirectly beneficially owned by them, until December 31, 2025, save for up to 0.4 million ADSs (representing 1.6 million class A ordinary shares of the Company) to be sold by Mr. Zhong for personal financial reasons. Mr. Zhong expects the sale to be completed by December 31, 2024.

About Agora, Inc.

Agora, Inc. is the Cayman Islands holding company of two independent divisions, under Agora brand and Shengwang brand, respectively, whose businesses are conducted through separate entities.

Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Agora is a pioneer and global leader in Real-Time Engagement Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), providing developers with simple, flexible, and powerful application programming interfaces, or APIs, to embed real-time voice, video, interactive live-streaming, chat, whiteboard, and artificial intelligence capabilities into their applications.

Headquartered in Shanghai, China, Shengwang is a pioneer and leading Real-Time Engagement PaaS provider in the China market.

For more information on Agora, please visit: www.agora.io
For more information on Shengwang, please visit: www.shengwang.cn

FAQ

What is the duration of Agora's (API) management lock-up period?

The lock-up period runs from December 2, 2024, to December 31, 2025.

How many ADSs is Agora's (API) CTO Shawn Zhong permitted to sell?

Shawn Zhong is permitted to sell up to 0.4 million ADSs (representing 1.6 million class A ordinary shares) by December 31, 2024.

Which Agora (API) executives are participating in the voluntary lock-up?

The lock-up includes CEO Tony Zhao, CTO Shawn Zhong, CFO Jingbo Wang, and VP Robbin Liu, comprising all executive officers of the company.