Trading in Vantage Drilling’s shares has been suspended by the New York Stock Exchange’s regulatory authority, which has commenced proceedings to delist Vantage’s ordinary shares from the NYSE MKT.
The stock is no longer suitable for listing pursuant to Section 1003(f)(v) of the NYSE MKT Company Guide, due to the “abnormally low” trading price of its ordinary shares, said NYSE Regulation in its notice to Vantage, dated September 14.
Vantage’s shares closed at $0.05 per share on September 11, the company’s last trading day on the NYSE MKT.
The NYSE MKT plans to apply to the US Securities and Exchange Commission to delist Vantage’s ordinary shares upon completion of all applicable procedures, which includes any appeal by Vantage against the decision.
“Vantage will consider all of its options, including its option to appeal, in responding to the notice. In the meantime, Vantage’s ordinary shares will trade on the over the counter markets under the trading symbol VTGDF,” the offshore drilling contractor said today in a statement.
The company owns three ultra-deepwater drillships, the Platinum Explorer, the Titanium Explorer and the Tungsten Explorer, and four Baker Marine Pacific Class 375 ultra-premium jackup drilling rigs.
In 2009, Vantage won a contract to supply the services of Titanium Explorer to Petrobras Venezuela Investments & Services (PVIS), but the deal was terminated by Petrobras earlier this month.
The Brazilian energy producer said the contractor had “breached its obligations” under the contract; Vantage has filed for arbitration.
In August, Daewoo Shipbuilding Marine Engineering (DSME) cancelled the contract for the Cobalt Explorer, the ultra-deepwater drillship Vantage ordered from the South Korean yard in July 2013.
DSME said the KRW 703bn ($593m) order was deleted after Vantage failed to make its second payment installment, which DSME said is a breach of contract. Arbitration is likely to follow.
This is good news, hopefully all the office bozos are down the road first!