SACRAMENTO, California,
May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
RiceBran Technologies (NASDAQ: RIBT and RIBTW) ("RBT" or
"Company"), a global leader in the production and marketing of
value added products derived from rice bran, today announced that,
on May 25, 2017, the Company received
a letter from The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC ("Nasdaq") stating that
the Company has regained compliance with Listing Rule 5550(b)(1),
which requires maintenance of a minimum of $2.5 million stockholders' equity in order to
remain listed on The Nasdaq Capital Market.
As previously disclosed, on April 24,
2017, the Company received a decision letter from Nasdaq
stating that the Hearings Panel (the "Panel") had granted the
Company's request for continued listing provided that, on or before
May 15, 2017, the Company shall have
announced in a public filing (via Form 8-K or Form 10-Q) that it
has equity of over $2.5 million. The
Company also at that time had to provide the Panel with updated
projections showing stockholders' equity through May 2018.
On May 12, 2017, the Company
reported stockholders' equity of $7.8
million in its Form 10-Q filing with the Securities and
Exchange Commission for the period ended March 31, 2017. The increase in stockholders'
equity resulted from a March 31, 2017
agreement with Alothon Group, LLC ("Alothon"), its minority
co-investor in Nutra SA, that terminated Alothon's roll-up rights,
a process that would have allowed Alothon to swap its equity
position in Nutra SA for an equivalent value of RBT common stock.
The elimination of those rollup rights allowed the Company to
reclassify approximately $9.6 million
of derivative warrant liability to stockholders' equity effective
March 31, 2017.
The Nasdaq letter received on May 25,
2017 confirmed that RBT has regained compliance with the
minimum stockholders' equity requirement for continued listing of
the Company's securities on The Nasdaq Stock Market and that the
Panel has closed this matter.
Separately, and also as previously disclosed, RBT must regain
compliance with Nasdaq's $1 minimum
bid price requirement prior to the expiration of the automatic
grace period provided for by Nasdaq rules, which currently affords
the Company until September 6, 2017
to cure the issue. This can be resolved by demonstrating the
closing bid price of the Company's common shares of at least
$1 per share for a minimum of ten
consecutive trading days. If this appears unlikely as September 6, 2017 approaches, the Company is
committed to taking actions that would enable it to regain
compliance, including, if necessary, completing a reverse split of
its common stock to increase its share price above the $1 minimum bid price.
About RiceBran Technologies
RiceBran Technologies is a food and animal feed ingredient
company focused on the procurement, bio-refining and marketing of
numerous products derived from rice bran. RiceBran Technologies has
proprietary and patented intellectual property that allows us to
convert rice bran, one of the world's most underutilized food
sources, into a number of highly nutritious food and feed
ingredient products. Our global target markets are food and feed
manufacturers and retailers, as well as specialty food, functional
food and nutritional supplement manufacturers and retailers. More
information can be found in the Company's filings with the SEC and
by visiting our website at http://www.ricebrantech.com.
Forward-Looking Statements-portion of
additional disclosure
This release contains forward-looking statements, including, but
not limited to, statements about RiceBran Technologies'
expectations regarding the potential completion of a reverse stock
split. These statements are made based upon current expectations
that are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties,
including the risk that if RBT determines to complete a reverse
stock split in the future, RBT's shareholders may not provide the
requisite approval. RiceBran Technologies does not undertake
to update forward-looking statements in this news release to
reflect actual results, changes in assumptions or changes in other
factors affecting such forward-looking information.
Assumptions and other information that could cause results to
differ from those set forth in the forward-looking information can
be found in this press release and in RiceBran
Technologies' filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including its most recent periodic reports.
Investor Contact:
Ascendant Partners, LLC
Richard Galterio
+(732)410-9810
rich@ascendantpartnersllc.com
SOURCE RiceBran Technologies