The Greek bulker owner says regulators have approved an application to transfer its ticker from the Nasdaq Global Market to the Nasdaq Capital Market on 19 February.
In a statement the company noted an appeals hearing prompted by a delisting notice delivered late last year had been cancelled as it believes it will be able to maintain compliance with a minimum market value requirement after moving forward with a reverse split last week.
FreeSeas has until 17 June 2013 to regain compliance with Nasdaq’s minimum bid price rule, however, which means the owner will need to keep its shares above $1.00 mark, after securing a deadline extension. Observers say this could be a challenge given the current state of the dry-bulk space and an uncertain forecast.
As we reported, the Greek shipowner has endured a difficult run in a bad bulk market and recently offered up a 10% stake to Hanover Holdings to settle a $305,455 court dispute.
FreeSeas lost $20.90m in the first half of 2012, a period in which one of its ships was released from pirate control and repeatedly threatened by delisting notices issued by Nasdaq.
Last year, the company saw two newbuilding contracts ripped up by Jiangsu Yangzijiang in June after it failed to make final payments on the vessels.
Today, its shares plummeted 14.43% before bottoming out at around $1.74 in early trading.
FreeSeas is led by chief executive Ion Varouxakis and headquartered in Athens where it oversees a fleet of seven handymax and handysize bulkers, according to the Clarksons Shipping Intelligence database.
