Peter Cook is no longer associated with Biota except as a major personal shareholder and option holder.
His resignation from the Board was announced today.
Having an immediate ex- CEO on the Board was unusual, unless he's the owner of the company.
Mr Cook also didn't have a biotech background (apart from Biota). It's possible this was a transitional Board appointment, but my guess is it wasn't designed that way.
The Board now retains Jim Fox and Richard Hill as the sole Australian shareholders. In fact, Mr Hill (who represents Hunter Hall) is American. In essence Jim Fox is the sole representative of unaligned Australian shareholders on the Board. However, the past Board was full of Australians and they cared very little for the benefit of small, non-executive shareholders.
The vestiges of its past are being lopped back hard. We'll see from the annual report how far the total Australian operation has been pruned back.
After the pruning, we'll look for regrowth.
I think this is a great process. I wouldnt look to closely at the results, as long as the burn rate doesnt blow out. This is becoming a new company. I am cautiously optimistic. I am long.
ReplyDeleteGeorge, I hope your enthusiasm is infectious.
ReplyDeleteAnd speaking of infectious, I think there is a little late influenza spurt here in Oz, but I'll try to check the figures to confirm.
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ReplyDeleteIt is my opinion that the BEOP, the Biota Employee option Plan was an abomination, that rewarded employees( including management) with free shares willy nilly, effectively robbing shareholders who expected the SP would rise, not be drowned by employee free shares.
ReplyDeleteWith no dividends and no way SP could rise, Biota shares were as useful as tits on a bull.
Going to the US to fix Biota was as subtle as a sledgehammer, but with major investors like clueless Hunter Hall, Biota had to be smashed to pieces with the US merger in the hope that it would rise up from the ashes as a viable investment for shareholders. BOTA:US can't be any worse than BTA:ASX , and getting rid of Peter Cook is a good start.