POET Technologies (POET) said Thursday it is offering about 20.7 million common shares in a registered direct offering, expecting to raise gross proceeds of about $150 million.

The company said it intends to use the offering proceeds to fund its corporate development, including acquisitions, scaling up of R&D, furthering its high-speed optical module and light source businesses, among others.

The offering is slated to close around Friday, POET Technologies said.

Shares of the company were down over 8% in recent Thursday premarket activity.

Price: 7.69, Change: -0.68, Percent Change: -8.13