CEREPLAST Voluntarily Moves Listing From NASDAQ to the OTCQB Market
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Dec 7, 2012 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- Cereplast, Inc.
(CERP), a leading manufacturer of proprietary biobased, sustainable bioplastics,
today announced that its Board of Directors has voluntarily decided to move the
listing of its common stock from The NASDAQ Capital Market ("NASDAQ") to the OTC
Markets' OTCQB marketplace ("OTCQB"). Cereplast expects that its stock will begin
trading on the OTCQB under its ticker symbol "CERP" effective December 17, 2012.
As of that date, investors and other interested parties will be able to view the
Real Time Level II stock quotes for CERP at otcmarkets.com. Cereplast
will file a Form 25 with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 17,
2012 and cease trading on NASDAQ on December 14, 2012.
"We believe that our decision to move to the OTCQB is in no way an adverse
reflection of the viability of the Company," stated Frederic Scheer, Chairman and
CEO of Cereplast. "We carefully evaluated our options to maintain our listing on
NASDAQ, including whether or not to implement a reverse split to satisfy the
$1.00 per share minimum bid price requirement, and concluded that it was not in
the best interest of our shareholders. We believe that the transition to the
OTCQB will be relatively seamless and will continue to provide existing and new
shareholders a quality marketplace to trade our stock."
Mr. Scheer continued, "Looking forward to FY 2013, we expect the Company to
recover from the losses incurred in 2012 and we are working on generating new
revenue and cash flow as well as opening up new sales initiatives into new
markets for our new and existing products and services."
On May 1st, 2012, the Company received a letter from NASDAQ advising the Company
that for the 30 consecutive trading days preceding the date of the notice, the
bid price of the Company's common stock had closed below the $1.00 per share
minimum bid price required for continued listing on The NASDAQ Capital Market,
pursuant to NASDAQ Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) (the "Bid Price Rule"). The letter
stated that the Company would be provided 180 calendar days, or until November
1st, 2012, to regain compliance with the Bid Price Rule, which deadline was
subsequently extended on a one-time basis to April 29, 2013. To regain
compliance, the closing bid price of the common stock would need to be at least
$1.00 per share for a minimum of ten consecutive business days prior to that
date.
The Board of Directors' voluntary decision to move the Company's listing from
NASDAQ to OTCQB was made following the detailed review of numerous factors
including NASDAQ filing fees (versus OTCQB); the significant compliance
obligations and restrictions that result from the maintenance of the NASDAQ
listing, including the associated out-of-pocket costs (versus OTCQB); and the
uncertainty to regain compliance with the Bid Price Rule before the April, 2013
deadline. Based on the foregoing factors, the Board of Directors does not believe
there is continuing shareholder value in maintaining Cereplast's listing on
NASDAQ at this time. However, the move to the OTCQB does not change the Company's
reporting obligations with the Securities and Exchange Commission under
applicable federal securities laws. Accordingly, the Company will continue to
file its Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and its
Current Reports on Form 8-K.
About OTC Markets Group Inc.:
OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCM) operates open, transparent and connected financial
marketplaces for investors to easily trade almost 10,000 equity and debt
securities through the broker of their choice. OTC Markets Group organizes these
securities into tiered marketplaces to inform investors of opportunities and
risks. OTC Markets Group's data-driven platform enables efficient trading through
any broker at the best possible price and empowers a broad range of companies to
improve the quality and availability of information for their investors.
About Cereplast, Inc.
Cereplast, Inc. (CERP) designs and manufactures proprietary biobased, sustainable
bioplastics which are used as substitutes for traditional plastics in all major
converting processes - such as injection molding, thermoforming, blow molding and
extrusions - at a pricing structure that is competitive with traditional
plastics. On the cutting-edge of biobased plastic material development, Cereplast
now offers resins to meet a variety of customer demands. Cereplast
Compostables(R) resins are ideally suited for single-use applications where high
biobased content and compostability are advantageous, especially in the food
service industry. Cereplast Sustainables(R) resins combine high biobased content
with the durability and endurance of traditional plastic, making them ideal for
applications in industries such as automotive, consumer electronics and
packaging. Learn more at cereplast.com. You may also visit the
Cereplast social networking pages at Facebook.com/Cereplast,
Twitter.com/Cereplast and Youtube.com/Cereplastinc.
The Cereplast, Inc. logo is available at
globenewswire.com
This news release was distributed by GlobeNewswire, globenewswire.com
SOURCE: Cereplast, Inc.
CONTACT: Cereplast, Inc.
Public Relations
Nicole Robertson
(310) 615-1900 x154
nrobertson@cereplast.com
Investor Relations:
Alliance Advisors, LLC
Alan Sheinwald
914-669-0222 |
