Electro Energy Inc. in Danbury has received “somewhat of a technical notice” from NASDAQ that its per-share price has dropped below $1 for the last 30 business days, said the company”™s president and CEO Michael E. Reed. The NASDAQ deficiency notice of Sept. 14 gives the company 180 days, or until March 14, to bring the stock price up to $1 or more.
“Ideally, market trading demand will drive it back up,” Reed said. “We think that will happen within six months, so it”™s not anything that”™s urgent. But we would like to be above that dollar before the six months happens.”
Reed said the share price dropped below a dollar ”“ it peaked at $13 a share after the company went public ”“ largely because interest payments to bondholders were made in stock rather than cash. “In the process of liquidating that stock, bondholders forced our share price way down below a dollar,” he said. “We think that with our business plan going forward, we”™ll be able to get the range up to where we need it to be.”
Electro Energy is in the process of raising an additional $5 million for the operation of its Gainesville, Fla., battery-manufacturing plant, he said. The money is being raised “through discussions with a variety of investors interested in the company,” he said.
The company develops and manufactures rechargeable bipolar wafer cell nickel-metal hydride batteries for use in a wide range of applications, including hybrid automobiles and hand-held power tools.
Reed said the company hired the Bridgeport law firm of Zeisler & Zeisler to assist in improving its capital structure and developing operating liquidity. “We engaged them to assist us to renegotiate or restructure the debt so it”™s not as much as a negative for traditional investors,” he said.
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