BEIJING, March 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Luokung
Technology Corp. (NASDAQ: LKCO) ("Luokung" or the "Company"), a
leading interactive location-based services and big data processing
technology company based in China,
today announced that the Company received a notice from Nasdaq
informing the Company that as a result of the Company being placed
by the U.S. Department of Defense ("DoD") list of "Communist
Chinese Military Companies" ("CCMCs") operating directly or
indirectly in the United States
(the "Section 1237 List"), which are subject to certain
restrictions under Executive Order 13959 (the "EO"), that trading
of the Company's ordinary shares will be suspended at the opening
of business on March 15, 2021. Nasdaq
will file a Form 25-NSE with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(the "SEC"), which will remove the Company's securities from
listing and registration on The Nasdaq Stock Market.
The Company plans to appeal the Nasdaq Staff's determination to
a Hearings Panel, pursuant to the procedures set forth in the
Nasdaq Listing Rule 5800 Series.
As announced in a press release earlier today, the Company has
separately initiated a case with the U.S. Federal District Court
for the District of Columbia
("Court") challenging the unlawful designation of the Company as a
CCMC, and the restrictions associated with that designation. As
part of that case, Luokung anticipates filing for temporary
emergency relief (a Temporary Restraining Order ("TRO")) from the
Court that would enjoin the U.S. Government from enforcing the EO
restrictions as to Luokung.
The Company was added to the Section 1237 List on January 14, 2021. Pursuant to the EO, U.S.
persons, including both individuals and entities, are prohibited
from engaging in the purchase for value or sale of companies added
to the Section 1237 List on January 14,
2021, effective March 15,
2021. However, it should be noted that on January 27, 2021, the U.S. Department of the
Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") issued General
License 1A – Authorizing Transactions Involving Securities of
Certain Communist Chinese Military Companies ("General License
1A"). Under General License 1A, OFAC indicated that all
transactions and activities prohibited by EO 13959, as amended by
EO 13974 on January 13, 2021
(collectively the "EO"), were authorized through 9:30 am Eastern Daylight Time, May 27, 2021 for any "entity whose name closely
matches, but does not exactly match, the name of" a CCMC.
The Company believes Luokung qualifies for the extended date
under the plain language of General License 1A. The name on the DoD
January 14, 2021 Section 1237 List is
not an exact match of Luokung, but merely a close match, and thus
any restrictions on U.S. persons' trading of Luokung securities and
derivatives should take effect on May 27,
2021, if at all, rather than March
15, 2021, under General License 1A. Luokung has requested
confirmation from OFAC that it qualifies under General License 1A
and has been informed that a response from OFAC will be forthcoming
before March 15, 2021. Luokung is
also seeking a declaration from the Court that General License 1A
applies to Luokung, including as part of its TRO request to the
Court.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to,
statements regarding our or our management's expectations, hopes,
beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future and other
statements that are other than statements of historical fact. In
addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or
other characterizations of future events or circumstances,
including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking
statements. The words "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "could",
"estimate", "expect", "intend", "may", "might", "plan", "probable",
"potential", "should", "would" and similar expressions may identify
forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not
mean that a statement is not forward-looking.
The forward-looking statements in this press release are based
upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon
further assumptions, including without limitation, management's
examination and analysis of the existing law, rules and regulations
and other data available from third parties. Although we believe
that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these
assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and
contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are
beyond our control, we cannot assure you the statement herein will
be accurate. As a result, you are cautioned not to rely on any
forward-looking statements.
CONTACT:
The Company:
Mr. Jay Yu
Chief Financial Officer
Tel: +86-10-5327-4727
Email: ir@luokung.com
Investor Relations
Adam Prior
Senior Vice President
The Equity Group Inc.
Tel: 212-836-9606
Email: aprior@equityny.com
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SOURCE Luokung Technology Corp.