Note 10 - Business Combination

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2022

Notes to Financial Statements

Business Combination Disclosure [Text Block]

On November 12, 2021, the Company and Reflect Systems, Inc., or “Reflect,” entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (as amended on February 8, 2022  and February 11, 2023, the “Merger Agreement") pursuant to which a direct, wholly owned subsidiary of Creative Realities, CRI Acquisition Corporation, or “Merger Sub,” would merge with and into Reflect, with Reflect surviving the merger and becoming our wholly owned subsidiary, which transaction is referred to herein as the “Merger.” On February 17, 2022, the parties consummated the Merger.

Reflect provides digital signage solutions, including software, strategic and media services to a wide range of companies across the retail, financial, hospitality and entertainment, healthcare, and employee communications industries in North America. Reflect offers digital signage platforms, including ReflectView, a platform used by companies to power hundreds of thousands of active digital displays. Through its strategic services, Reflect assists its customers with designing, deploying and optimizing their digital signage networks, and through its media services, Reflect assists customers with monetizing their digital advertising networks.

Subject to the terms and conditions of the Merger Agreement, upon the closing of the Merger, Reflect stockholders as of the effective time of the Merger collectively received from the Company, in the aggregate, the following Merger consideration: (i) $16,166 in cash, (ii) 777,778 shares of common stock of Creative Realities (valued based on an issuance price of $6 per share) (the “CREX Shares”), (iii) the Secured Promissory Note (as described below), and (iv) supplemental cash payments (the “Guaranteed Consideration”), if any, payable on or after February 17, 2025 (subject to the Extension Option described below, the “Guarantee Date”), in an amount by which the value of the CREX Shares on such anniversary is less than $19.20 per share, or if certain customers of Reflect collectively achieve over 85,000 billable devices online at any time on or before December 31, 2022, is less than $21.60 per share (such applicable amount, the “Guaranteed Price”), multiplied by the amount of CREX Shares held by the Reflect stockholders on the Guarantee Date (subject to the Extension Option described below).  At or before December 31, 2022, the condition of certain customers of Reflect collectively to achieve over 85,000 billable devices online was not met.  Accordingly, the contingent cash payment amount was reduced at December 31, 2022 from $21.60 per share to $19.20 per share, a reduction of $2.40 per share.   

The Company may exercise an extension option (the “Extension Option”) to extend the Guarantee Date by six (6) months, from February 17, 2025 to August 17, 2025, if (i) the Extension Threshold Price is greater than or equal to 70% of the Guaranteed Price described above, and (ii) the Company provides written notice of its election to exercise the Extension Option no later than February 7, 2025. The “Extension Threshold Price” means the average closing price per share of Creative Realities common stock as reported on the Nasdaq Capital Market (or NYSE) in the fifteen (15) consecutive trading day period ending February 2, 2025. If the Extension Threshold Price is less than 80% of the Guaranteed Price, then the Guaranteed Price will be increased by $3.00 per share.

In connection with the Merger, the Company adopted a Retention Bonus Plan and raised capital to, among other things, pay the cash portion of the Merger consideration. The Retention Bonus Plan is described below.

Retention Bonus Plan

On February 17, 2022, in connection with the closing of the Merger (the “Closing”), the Company adopted a Retention Bonus Plan, pursuant to which the Company is required to pay to key members of Reflect’s management team an aggregate of $1,334 in cash, which was paid 50% at the Closing, and subject to continuous employment with Reflect or Creative Realities, 25% will be paid on February 17, 2023 (the one-year anniversary of Closing) and 25% will be paid on February 17, 2024 (the two-year anniversary of the Closing). The future cash payments due on the one-year and two-year anniversaries of the Closing have been deposited into an escrow agreement. The Retention Bonus Plan also requires the Company to issue Common Stock having an aggregate value of $667 to the plan participants as follows: 50% of the value of such shares were issued at the Closing, and subject to continuous employment with Reflect or Creative Realities, 25% of the value of such shares will be issued on February 17, 2023 (the one-year anniversary of Closing) and the remaining 25% of the value of such shares will be issued on February 17, 2024 (the two-year anniversary of the Closing). The shares issued on the Closing were valued at $6.00 per share, and the shares to be issued after the Closing will be determined based on dividing the value of shares issuable on such date divided by the trailing 10-day volume weighted average price (VWAP) of the shares as of such date as reported on the Nasdaq Capital Market.

Upon the resignation of a participant’s employment for “good reason,” or termination of the employment of a participant without “cause,” each as defined in the Retention Bonus Plan, the participant will be fully vested and will receive all cash and shares allocated to such participant under the Retention Bonus Plan. Any amounts unpaid by reason of a lapse in continuous employment or otherwise will be reallocated among the remaining Retention Bonus Plan participants.

Purchase price 

The preliminary purchase price of Reflect consisted of the following items:

(in thousands)	Consideration
Cash consideration for Reflect stock (1)	$	16,664
Cash consideration for Retention Bonus Plan (2)		1,334
Common stock issued to Reflect shareholders (3)		4,667
Common stock issued to Retention Bonus Plan (4)		333
Secured Promissory Note (5)		2,500
Earnout liability (6)		10,862
Total consideration		36,360
Vendor deposit with the Company (7)		(818	)
Cash acquired (8)		(812	)
Net consideration transferred	$	34,730

(1) Cash consideration for outstanding shares of Reflect capital stock per Merger Agreement.

(2) Cash consideration utilized to fund the Retention Bonus Plan per Merger Agreement.

(3) Company common stock issued in exchange for outstanding shares of Reflect capital stock per Merger Agreement.

(4) Company common stock issued to fund the Retention Bonus Plan per Merger Agreement

(5) The Secured Promissory Note accrues interest at 0.59% (the applicable federal rate at the time of issuance of the Secured Promissory Note) and requires the Company and Reflect to collectively pay equal monthly principal installments of $104 on the fifteenth (15th) day of each month, commencing on March 15, 2022. Any remaining or unpaid principal shall be due and payable on February 17, 2023.

(6) Represents an estimate of the fair value of the Guaranteed Consideration as of the Merger, which, if any, is payable on or after February 17, 2025 (subject to the Extension Option), in an amount by which the value of the CREX Shares on such anniversary is less than $19.20 per share, or if certain customers of Reflect collectively achieve over 85,000 billable devices online at any time on or before December 31, 2022, is less than $21.60 per share (such applicable amount, the “Guaranteed Price”), multiplied by the amount of CREX Shares held by the Reflect stockholders on the Guarantee Date (subject to the Extension Option), subject to the terms of the Merger Agreement. At September 30, 2022, the Company’s third party specialist completed valuation of this contingent liability as of the opening balance sheet date, resulting in a measurement period adjustment recorded to increase goodwill and the contingent liability as of February 17, 2022 by $5,262.

(7) Prior to the Merger, Reflect had engaged the Company on a project and paid the Company a deposit of $818. These amounts reduced consideration paid by the Company in accordance with ASC 805.

(8) Represents the Reflect cash balance acquired at Closing.

The Company incurred $444 of direct transaction costs related to the Reflect Merger for the year ended December 31, 2022. These costs are included in deal and transaction expense in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Operations.

The Company accounted for the Merger using the acquisition method of accounting. The preliminary allocation of the purchase price is based on estimates of the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed as of February 17, 2022. The Company is continuing to obtain information to determine the acquired assets and liabilities, including tax assets, liabilities and other attributes. The components of the preliminary purchase price allocation, inclusive of measurement period adjustments recorded by the Company during the year ended December 31, 2022, are as follows:

(in thousands)	Total
Accounts receivable	$	1,359
Inventory		190
Prepaid expenses & other current assets		666
Property and equipment		96
Operating right of use assets		493
Other assets		36
Identified intangible assets:
Definite-lived trade names		960
Definite-lived developed technology		5,130
Definite-lived customer relationships		11,040
Definite-lived noncompete agreements		30
Goodwill		18,935
Accounts payable		(104	)
Accrued expenses		(483	)
Customer deposits		(1,661	)
Deferred revenues		(1,259	)
Current maturities of operating leases		(277	)
Long-term obligations under operating leases		(216	)
Other liabilities		(205	)
Net consideration transferred	$	34,730

The Company engaged a third-party valuation specialist to assist in the identification and calculation of the fair value of those separately identifiable intangible assets.

The Company completed its valuation procedures by asset utilizing the following approaches:

(1) Customer relationship asset was estimated using the income approach through a discounted cash flow analysis wherein the cash flows will be based on estimates used to price the Merger. Discount rates were benchmarked with reference to the implied rate of return from the Company’s pricing model and the weighted average cost of capital.

(2) Trade name asset represents the “Reflect” brand name as marketed primarily as a full services digital software solution, marketed in numerous verticals with the exception of food service. The Company applied the income approach through an excess earnings analysis to determine the fair value of the trade name asset. The Company applied the income approach through a relief-from-royalty analysis to determine the fair value of this asset.

(3) The developed technology assets are primarily comprised of know-how and functionality embedded in Reflect’s proprietary content management applications, which drive currently marketed products and services. The Company applied the income approach through a relief-from-royalty analysis to determine the preliminary fair value of this asset.

The Company is amortizing the identifiable intangible assets on a straight-line basis over the weighted average lives ranging from 2 to 10 years as outlined in the table below.  The table below sets forth the valuation and amortization period of identifiable intangible assets:

			Amortization
(in thousands)	Valuation		Period
Identifiable definite-lived intangible assets:
Trade names	$	960	5 years
Developed technology		5,130	10 years
Noncompete		30	2 years
Customer relationships		11,040	10 years
Total	$	17,160

The Company estimated the preliminary fair value of the acquired property, plant and equipment using a combination of the cost and market approaches, depending on the component. The preliminary fair value of such property, plant and equipment is $96.

The excess of the purchase price over the preliminary estimated fair value of the tangible net assets and identifiable intangible assets acquired was recorded as goodwill and is subject to change upon final valuation. The factors contributing to the recognition of the amount of goodwill are based on several strategic and synergistic benefits that are expected to be realized from the Merger. These benefits include a comprehensive portfolio of iconic customer brands, complementary product offerings, enhanced national footprint, and attractive synergy opportunities and value creation. None of the goodwill is expected to be deductible for income tax purposes.

The following unaudited pro forma information presents the combined financial results for the Company and Reflect as if the Merger had been completed at the beginning of the Company’s prior year, January 1, 2021.

(in thousands, except earnings per common share)	2021
Net sales	$	30,680
Net income	$	799
Earnings per common share	$	0.06

The information above does not include the pro forma adjustments that would be required under Regulation S-X for pro forma financial information and does not reflect future events that may occur after December 31, 2021 or any operating efficiencies or inefficiencies that may result from the Merger and related financings. Therefore, the information is not necessarily indicative of results that would have been achieved had the businesses been combined during the periods presented or the results that the Company will experience going forward. We have not included disaggregated information for Reflect on a standalone basis in the current year for either revenue or net income as the integration activities undertaken by the Company have prevented this information from being useful to financial statement readers.

	Year
	Ended
	December 31,
Reflect Systems, Inc. (in thousands)	2021
Net sales	$	12,243
Net (loss) income	$	567