Mark White on Singleton, "F", CCs, Halimi online et.al
Had a conversation Mon pm with Mark. Here is the abbreviated summary:
1. John Singleton turned out to not be a fit for TRBDF. There needs to be chemistry...there wasn't. As accomplished as he is, the company wanted more time committment (24x7!) and pushed him to relocate West. John had responsibilities on other Boards as well as his own business. "You can't fire everybody...you fire one". FWIW, Mark said that John never said hello 1x to him during his tenure with the company.
It was a Board decision. There are outside Board directors (it was not just a personality clash with Nowek and/or Halimi or Ware). I suspect we may never know anything close to the full story.
2. Mark could neither confirm nor deny that the dilutive and sweetheart financing had anything to do with the decision.
3. A 10Q should be filed as the company completes domestication. Some paper filing was done today (20AF?) and the loss of the "F" is supposed to take 3-5 business days, though Mark opined that it might take a few more.
4. The company intends to hold conference calls starting with the next quarter's report (2Q98) which is due 45 days following the end of June. Expect this about mid-August.
5. Mark has not heard the Halimi online interview. He acknowledged that many interested persons did not have the technology to hear the interview,that he would inquire about obtaining a transcription, and asked me to call back in a couple of days.
6. Mark, and his position, get "flamed" by some of the Yah'idiots. I have always found him to be as open as allowed, not a hype artist or salesman, and willing to follow up on questions.
7. Mark acknowledged that the dilutive financing did not look good, but is not privy to those kinds of decisions. He did state that part of the company's quarterend rise in working capital was due to option exercising (about 1.7 million in cash raised for 750,000 options exercised). The consolidated statement of cash flows shows 2.6 million in cash at the end of the period. If the $ from exercise was not available until the end of March it stands to reason that there may have been some liquidity issues midquarter. (I still think the financing smacks of cronyism and basically sux{sic}).
8. Regarding complaints re. filings for insider sales, Mark said that Pacific Baja principals including M.Joyce, L.Renberg et. al. have significant tax liabilities stemming from the sale of their company and have quarterly needs for $. He said you can expect to see these filings continue.
9. BTW, John Singleton has a bundle of shares and is also a mandated filer if he intends to sell. It will be interesting to see if he holds, folds, or dribbles his holdings back to the public over time. Mark said his position was built from open market purchases prior to his hire.
feeling better than I did...still cautious though. recalling my previous chatter re. symmetrical triangles has diminished significance with so much fundamental news about to break: losing the F, announcing the OEM mfr., a "biggie" taking an equity stake, increased scrutiny via Edgar of the company's financing activities, Singleton's ouster, and possible announcements of new orders.
We live in exciting times. Where are you on the greed...fear continuum?
Mike |
