Collective Audience to Transition to OTC Markets Following Delisting from Nasdaq Global Market

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Company Received Notice of Delisting Yesterday from Nasdaq without Traditionally Granted Grace Period as it Pursues Potential Appeal to Continue Trading on Nasdaq

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 15, 2024 / Collective Audience, Inc. (Nasdaq:CAUD), a leading innovator of audience-based performance advertising and media, announced its common stock will be suspended from trading on the Nasdaq Global Market effective upon the open of trading on Friday, August 16, 2024 following a Nasdaq Hearings Panel determination to delist the company's shares.

The company is currently arranging for its stock to begin trading temporarily on the OTC Markets' Pink Open Market at the opening of the markets on Friday, August 16, 2024, while it pursues a request for reconsideration and contemplates filing an appeal to the Nasdaq Listing and Hearing Review Council. The company already has a pending application with OTC Markets to list on the OTC Markets' OTCQB Market for which the company believes it fully qualifies.

Despite the company's successful execution of its compliance plan, including being current in its SEC reporting, the recent timely filing of its Form 10-Q for the three months ended June 30, 2024, and the completion of two previously announced acquisitions, the Nasdaq appeal panel decided to deny any grace period or extension to allow the company to transition to the Nasdaq Capital Market, citing the immediate drop in market trading price at the deSPAC back in November 2023 as the deciding factor in their decision.

The company's application to transfer to the Nasdaq Capital Market, where it currently meets continued listing requirements, except for minimum bid price compliance (which it had until October 2024 to resolve), was also denied. The company is currently evaluating its plan to potentially appeal the decision in the 15 days allotted by Nasdaq for such an appeal.

Collective Audience is current with its SEC reporting requirements and recently completed two transformative acquisitions. Following these acquisitions, the company reported that it expects to generate on a pro forma basis positive EBITDA in 2024, with annual pro forma revenues on track to exceed $7.5 million.

"We strongly disagree with the Nasdaq Hearings Panel's decision, which disregards our recent achievements and compliance efforts, and as the company stands today being compliant versus being compliant based on November of last year," stated Collective Audience CEO, Peter Bordes. "It is unfortunate that despite our full compliance and the significant progress we've made, including our recent acquisition of BeOp, a leading conversational media platform, Nasdaq has chosen not to grant us the opportunity to continue trading based on volatile market conditions post-deSPAC back in November 2023. We are confident in our long-term strategy and remain focused on delivering value to our shareholders."