Horizon Lines faces NYSE delisting
Horizon Lines says the New York Stock Exchange is warning the company faces possible delisting because its market capitalization and stockholder equity have fallen below NYSE criteria, the Journal of Commerce reported.
The move would be a blow to an embattled operator that is looking to restructure its finances after overhauling its leadership in the wake of a guilty plea in a price-fixing investigation.
Horizon, the United States’ largest domestic ocean carrier with more than one-third of the total market between the U.S. mainland and Puerto Rico, Alaska, Hawaii and Guam, has seen its stock price plummet after the company agreed to plead guilty in February to a felony antitrust violation in the U.S. mainland-Puerto Rico market. The stock closed Tuesday at $1.12 a share, down from a 52-week high of $5.95.
The NYSE requires companies to maintain stockholders equity of at least $50 million and market capitalization of at least $50 million over 30 consecutive trading days.
Horizon Lines has notified the NYSE it will submit a plan to restore compliance. The company has 45 days from receiving the May 24 notice to submit a plan, which the NYSE has 45 days to accept or reject. If the plan is accepted, the company has up to 18 months to demonstrate compliance with the NYSE continued listing standards.
The company said it remains in discussions is currently to refinance its debt and stave off a default.
The Justice Department agreed in April to reduce the company's $45 million fine for the antitrust violation to $15 million on grounds the larger penalty threatened to force Horizon into bankruptcy. The original fine was far below federal sentencing guidelines, but the Justice Department said that was all Horizon could afford to pay without threatening the company's viability.
The move would be a blow to an embattled operator that is looking to restructure its finances after overhauling its leadership in the wake of a guilty plea in a price-fixing investigation.
Horizon, the United States’ largest domestic ocean carrier with more than one-third of the total market between the U.S. mainland and Puerto Rico, Alaska, Hawaii and Guam, has seen its stock price plummet after the company agreed to plead guilty in February to a felony antitrust violation in the U.S. mainland-Puerto Rico market. The stock closed Tuesday at $1.12 a share, down from a 52-week high of $5.95.
The NYSE requires companies to maintain stockholders equity of at least $50 million and market capitalization of at least $50 million over 30 consecutive trading days.
Horizon Lines has notified the NYSE it will submit a plan to restore compliance. The company has 45 days from receiving the May 24 notice to submit a plan, which the NYSE has 45 days to accept or reject. If the plan is accepted, the company has up to 18 months to demonstrate compliance with the NYSE continued listing standards.
The company said it remains in discussions is currently to refinance its debt and stave off a default.
The Justice Department agreed in April to reduce the company's $45 million fine for the antitrust violation to $15 million on grounds the larger penalty threatened to force Horizon into bankruptcy. The original fine was far below federal sentencing guidelines, but the Justice Department said that was all Horizon could afford to pay without threatening the company's viability.
