Premier Exhibitions in danger of delisting
Atlanta Business Chronicle - by J. Scott Trubey Staff Writer
Premier Exhibitions Inc., the struggling Atlanta-based exhibitor of Bodies: The Exhibition and Titanic Aquatic, is in danger of being delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange.
Premier Exhibitions’ stock price has closed below $1 for more the last 30 trading days.
Premier Exhibitions (NASDAQ: PRXI), which has seen great success in its hometown with the recently completed Titanic exhibition at the Georgia Aquarium, and its long-running Dialog in the Dark and Bodies showcases, said Thursday it has been notified by Nasdaq that it has 180 days to regain compliance with the minimum share price.
The stock was trading for around $1 as of 10 a.m. Tuesday, according to Yahoo! Finance.
“Premier has a strong interest in maintaining compliance with Nasdaq’s listing requirements,” Premier Exhibitions Chairman Mark Sellers said in a regulatory filing.
“The Board of Directors is in agreement that we will take every step necessary to regain compliance and maintain Premier’s Nasdaq listing, including, if appropriate, a reverse stock split. However, the turnaround is going very well, as shown in this quarter’s preliminary results, and I’m hopeful such extreme action won’t be necessary.”
Premier Exhibitions lost $10 million in its most recent fiscal year.
In the past year, the company has faced a fight for shareholder control, unsolicited bids for its richest assets, sinking exhibit attendance outside of Atlanta and a bailout from its largest shareholder, Sellers Capital LLC.
The stock price has fallen more than 90 percent from an all-time high of $18.62 in May 2007.
Premier has been battered by recent legal and financial turmoil. It has been locked in litigation over the artifacts in the Titanic exhibition, and its Bodies exhibit has been dogged by allegations the cadavers used are those of executed and tortured Chinese prisoners. The company settled a lawsuit with the state of New York over the matter in May 2008.
Last July, an investor called on Premier to sell itself and liquidate its Titanic artifacts. Sellers, currently chairman of Premier’s board and chief of Sellers Capital, led a successful proxy fight and wrested control of the company from founder Arnie Geller, whom Sellers Capital accused of mismanagement.
In April, a former executive made an unsolicited bid to buy out Sellers Capital and control the management rights to Premier’s most-prized Titanic assets. For the past few years, a number of executives fled or were fired, and attendance to some shows sank.
Chris Davino, a turnaround specialist brought in by Sellers Capital to join the board, took the reins of the company when Geller was fired in February.
Sellers said in recent interview with Atlanta Business Chronicle, Davino has made great progress to right the struggling company.
Staff Writer Lisa R. Schoolcraft contributed to this report.
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