Former high-flying tech stock 1-Page — which has been planning a move into cannabis — is quitting Australia.
The board has decided to de-list from the local bourse after unsuccessfully trying to resume trade on the ASX for more than four months. The stock has been suspended since March 2017.
In February the former HR software maker announced a move into cannabis with a plan to buy German medical marijuana company HAPA Medical Group and change its name to European Cannabis Corporation.
But major shareholder Andrew Chapman believes the ASX doesn’t want any more medical cannabis stocks.
Back in 2014 the former HR software maker became the first Silicon Valley tech stock to list on the ASX after raising $8.5 milion at 20c.
The shares soared to $5.69 by September 2016 but six months later fell back to 16.5c as founder Joanna Riley tried — and failed — to roll the board. It was described by the board at the time as “her intention to continue to burn cash”.
The stock has been suspended ever since.
Now the aspiring medical cannabis play will exit Australia — most likely to list in Frankfurt (where ASX cannabis play Creso Pharma has secured a dual listing) or Toronto.
Mr Chapman says 1-Page will set up an independent facility for shareholders to sell into at 20c a share, if they don’t want to own a foreign-listed company.
‘Delay after delay’
“We just had delay after delay after delay and I don’t think they want any more cannabis companies on the ASX,” Mr Chapman told Stockhead.
“We had a meeting a few weeks ago in Perth and they were clear they don’t really want any new ones.
“We’ve been trying to get [1-Page] listed for four to five months.”
He said they also didn’t want to be seen as a “me-too” company trying to capitalise on the medical cannabis buzz in Australia.
An ASX spokesman said there were no limits on prospective listing and pointed Stockhead to guidelines issued in October last year.
These state that businesses wanting to list cannot have a vague or ill-defined business model, the business has to be more than a concept, and companies that have not secured “key licences, government approvals, intellectual property rights or other… rights it will need to operate its business” may not meet listing requirements.