ThermoGenesis seeks approval for reverse stock split
ThermoGenesis Corp. will seek stockholder approval for a reverse stock split to boost shares to meet Nasdaq requirements, company officials announced Friday.
The Rancho Cordova-based company (Nasdaq: KOOL) faces delisting in September if it doesn’t get the share price up to a minimum bid of $1. The stock closed at 60 cents Thursday. The 52-week high was 85 cents in May; the low was 50 cents in February.
The company will seek shareholder approval for a split in the range of one-for-three to one-for-five share of common stock in the future, if required to maintain Nasdaq listing. The matter will be voted upon during a special meeting of stockholders Aug. 9.
ThermoGenesis develops and manufacturers automated blood processing systems and disposable products that enable the manufacture, preservation and deliver of cell and tissue therapy products.
A reverse stock split of one-for-three exchanges one share for three and ups the value three-fold. The 60-cent price Thursday would become $1.80 and give the company a longer period to come into compliance.
The company said a reverse split may be necessary to enable it to meet the continued listing rules of the Nasdaq, and could serve to improve marketability and liquidity of its common stock.
“They did it in 1996 — successfully,” said David Adams, a shareholder at Weintraub Genshlea Chediak Law Corp. in Sacramento who was in-house counsel for ThermoGenesis at the time. “The idea is to get the price up for institutional investors. Some won’t buy it until it reaches a certain threshold.”
Filed under: money by John