SkyAI (Nasdaq: SKYA) intends to spend roughly $201 million buying back up to 95% of its shares and warrants at $3.00 each, according to an announcement published via GlobeNewswire. The company plans to fund the repurchase by selling about half of the Solana treasury it spent the past year building — a move that effectively rejects a takeover bid from Forward Industries. SkyAI completed its transformation from medical device distributor Sharps Technology into a Solana treasury vehicle only within the past year. For a digital asset treasury sector in which companies have competed on the size of their token stockpiles, the maneuver is a reversal: SkyAI is shrinking its SOL position to shrink its share count.

From medical devices to a Solana treasury

The crypto pivot began on August 28, 2025, when the company — then still known as Sharps Technology — raised more than $400 million in a private placement, according to an SEC-filed press release. Units sold at $6.50 each, with every unit comprising one share of common stock plus attached warrants. The proceeds went into SOL, the native token of the Solana blockchain, in what the company described as the launch of one of the largest Solana treasuries, and investors were told the raise could reach $1 billion if all warrants were exercised.

The $3.00 offer price is less than half of what early investors paid when the crypto treasury strategy was first set up. SkyAI says $3.00 represents a 65% premium over its October 9 close and more than a 100% premium to its 60-day volume-weighted average price. Both benchmarks, however, measure against a stock that has fallen far from where the treasury started.

Half the SOL holdings already sold

A September 2026 filing revealed that SkyAI held more than two million SOL with no debt, making it the fifth-largest publicly traded Solana treasury at 2,009,494 SOL — worth about $207 million in September. To fund the buyback, the company is now draining that treasury. It said it has already sold about 1 million SOL, roughly half of its holdings, and holds about 1 million SOL as of the announcement, with further sales possible depending on the market.

SkyAI also disclosed more than $12 million in staking revenue booked through June 30, with its validator yielding 6.01% against a 5.57% network average. The sell-down marks a turn from accumulation to unwinding for a company that ranked fifth among publicly traded Solana treasuries barely a month earlier, with staking yields above the network average.

The bid SkyAI turned away

The buyback doubles as a takeover defense. SkyAI's board rejected Forward Industries' latest unsolicited proposal, concluding the bid undervalues the company. Forward, which calls itself the largest Solana treasury company and reported holding 8.5 million SOL at the end of September, has been pursuing SkyAI since June.

Forward's first offer, made on June 15, was 0.367 Forward shares for each SKYA share — about a 20% premium, or $1.55 per share — which SkyAI rejected. On September 15, Forward improved the terms to 0.306 shares, valuing SkyAI at about $2.13 per share, roughly a 50% premium at the time. SkyAI's $3.00 cash offer exceeds that valuation and is paid in cash rather than Forward stock. The fight illustrates the consolidation dynamics taking hold in the Solana treasury space, where scale is measured in SOL held — and where SkyAI's answer to a stock-based suitor is cash unlocked from its own tokens.

Forward also took its case directly to shareholders at SkyAI's September 18 annual meeting. All five of SkyAI's directors kept their seats, however, even though each received more withheld votes than votes in favor, because the rules require only a plurality. Shareholders also voted down the company's proposed equity incentive plan, 22.5 million to 5 million. Those votes, cast three days after Forward's improved offer and less than a month before the buyback announcement, amounted to visible shareholder dissent in the middle of the fight.

Offer terms and conditions

SkyAI expects to commence the tender offer on or about October 15 and run it for 10 business days — a window that would carry the outcome into late October. It covers up to 46.37 million shares and up to 20.72 million pre-funded and strategic advisor warrants. The offer is conditioned on at least 50% of each class of shares being tendered, and on the price of SOL staying above $100 throughout the offer period. SOL traded near $111 on October 11, roughly 10% above that floor.

The company said the offer does not depend on financing, since its cash and digital assets already exceed the maximum $201 million it could spend. SkyAI has hired MacKenzie Partners to handle shareholder information and collect tendered shares, and the official offer documents are due to be filed with the SEC by October 15. Because a tender offer puts the sale decision directly to holders, participation will determine whether the 50% minimums clear and how close to the 95% ceiling the repurchase runs. The markers ahead include further SOL sales, which SkyAI said remain possible depending on the market, and whether Forward — rebuffed twice — comes back with a third offer.