In a letter dated October 18, the NASDAQ National Market notified Collectors Universe of its pending delisting from the exchange for falling below a per share price of at least $1. NASDAQ Marketplace Rule 4450(a)(5) requires all companies trading on the exchange to maintain a $1 bid price. Collectors Universe (CLCT) closed Friday at 70 cents per share. Its 52 week range is between 50 cents and $1.72 per share. The delisting would be effective October 29, 2002.
After receiving the letter, Collectors Universe requested an appeal, thus staying the delisting at least 30 to 45 days. While the company will try to make a case for not being delisted, the Board of Directors will, at the company's Annual Meeting, to be held on December 4, 2002, request stockholder approval for a reverse stock split, perhaps as high as 1-for-5. This means for every five shares a stockholder now owns, s/he would be issued one share of new stock equal to the price of the old five shares. The effect is to bring the per-share price of the stock back over NASDAQ 's $1 per share requirement. (Lucent and PALM have also recently explored taking this action.) The proposal is being mailed to company stockholders this week along with the Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting. Failure to prevent delisting would consign the stock to being sold OTCBB, or Over The Counter Bulletin Board.
Collectors Universe Inc. authenticates and grades high-end collectibles, such as coins, sports cards, stamps and autographs, as well as selling them through direct sales, auctions, catalogs and the Internet. The company also compiles and publishes authoritative information about collectible sportscards and sports memorabilia, United States and world coins, and entertainment memorabilia. The company went public in November 1999 with 4 million shares at $6 per share. There are currently 25.5 million shares outstanding.
http://www.collectors.com
