Trading in shares of Londonbased Argo Blockchain (ARBK) was suspended in the U.K. and U.S. on Friday, according to blockchain media outlet CoinDesk, which included an image of Argo’s Dickens County Helios plant (above) in its coverage. “The exact reason for the suspension was not disclosed, but it typically is due to the pending release of news,” said the article.
Trading on the London Stock Exchange was restored Monday, Dec. 12, following the company’s statement, published at www.londonstockexchange. com, that it was “at risk of having insufficient cash to support ongoing business operations within the next month. The Company is in advanced negotiations with a third party to sell certain assets and engage in an equipment financing transaction that the Company believes will strengthen its balance sheet and improve its liquidity.”
The published statement goes on to note, “The Company is hopeful that it will be able to consummate the transaction outside of a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in the United States, although there is no assurance that the Company can avoid such a filing. The Company engaged McDermott Will & Emery LLP as legal advisers, Berkeley Research Group, LLC as financial advisers, and Stifel GMP and its affiliate, Miller Buckfire & Co., LLC, as investment bankers, to assist the Company with analysing these strategic options.”
“As part of this process,” Argo’s statement reads, “certain draft materials were inadvertently published as a test page on the Company's website. The inadvertently published materials, which implied that the Company was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, led to the suspension of trading of the Company’s securities on the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq on Friday, 9 December 2022. Shareholders should note that the Company has not filed for bankruptcy at this time.”
“The Company has requested that the UK Financial Conduct Authority restore the listing of its ordinary shares and that is expected to happen as soon as practicable.”
Trading of Argo (ARBK) had also resumed on the U.S. NASDAQ exchange as of Monday.
Following Argo’s October 2022 report that it had been unable to close a deal to secure additional financing, the company’s share values plummeted, as The Texas Spur reported Nov. 3. The cryptocurrency industry worldwide has been shaken by the collapse of trading firm FTX last month.
The London Stock Exchange, on which Argo is traded as ARB, reported Dec. 10, “Amid the lack of financing, Argo has been taking measures to preserve cash and optimize liquidity. The company sold 3,843 brand-new Bitmain S19J Pro miners for $5.6 million, which was the last batch of the original Bitmain order scheduled for installation in October 2022.”
The Texas Spur reached out Friday to Argo executives but has received no response.
The firm, which employs up to 20 people in Dickens County and surrounding areas, released the following operational update on Dec. 9 for November 2022.
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