RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:Additional thoughts on the ATMIt is not the best look. Hopefully, they will get it cleaned up. I do not have a contact at Cantor, unfortunately.
palinc2000 wrote: Apart from them pulling a rabbit how do you feel about the timing of the announcement i,e, low price and low volume environment ,appearance of precipitous decision ,impossibility to get access to the Prospectus Supplememt which may or may not reveal any new info ,not even a broad outline of thre intended use of the proceeds etc
Wino115 wrote: We may get more answers from Cantor. Perhaps ask same questions you asked LG to a Cantor salesperson. I have to believe that since they clearly do not need any money at this point and they are hopefully getting good advice from the Board on shareholder friendly policy, that they do not remotely believe they should be issuing shares here.
If so, it would only be an indicator. An indicator Cantor does want to bank with them and cover them. Research has to be on the way in the next 3-6 months. Cantor may be able to find a few preferential clients that if interested they can help them start a position (let's hope THTX do no more than $10mil that way). I think it does show some positivity around oncology in that they believe the share will react at some point in the near future. I'm not sure it would help in NASH as it's not enough to convince anyone one way or the other.
SPCEO1 wrote: Do you have any guesses as to what this rabbit might be? Some new development in their cancer program that needs funding? A quick reversal on the decision to partner NASH (hard to see this), or an acquisition? Or something else you might be thinking of as a possibility?
And while you are right that an institution could acquire, say, 5 million shares or a 5% stake equating to about $17.5 million worth of THTX in a reasonable time frame by aggressively buying the stock on the open market, they don't like to do that and they know they can usually shake cheaper shares out of a weak management team via a low ball offer of large sums of cash. In this case, TH would likely highlight the need for greater liquidity in the shares to justify the fund raising (as they did in the past). That is a bogus reason in my book, but it is the go to argument in situations like this.
Also, if the board recently decided to partner NASH because the ability to raise funds at a reasonable cost to fund that trial was not there for THTX right now due to the low share price, why are they now considering raising cash for another project at the same low share price? That does not make any sense to me. I am hoping the ATM facility is something they are planning to use later when the stock price is higher as that makes more sense.
If they do now raise funds quickly using the ATM at this low price for some other project, that will tell us alot about what they really think about their NASH prospects.
palinc2000 wrote: Institutions would not have much problem in taking a position by buying in the open market .... The SP would trend higher of course but not that much .......5 USD would allow them to buy millions of shares in the open market....So the ATM is not imo about giving access to institutions It is about the INSATIABLE NEED for CASH in biotechs looking to fund their pipeline....
Maybe this time there is a rabbit...... Fingers crossed
SPCEO1 wrote: I asked those questions and she got back but didn't answer them. So I asked them again.
scarlet1967 wrote: I hope she clarifies why now and what is the reason for it. All these u turns from HIV to general NASH to going alone and now partnership although all are sensible decisions, they also cause some confusion. This hole NASH saga has been nothing but confusing thus no decent positive reaction from the market despite the fact it's now harmonized with a clearer potential path to progress. They got both agencies onboard, they added the interim arm to deal with the biopsy issue and have a ready to go program yet nothing from the market in fact the SP declined slightly since the partnership announcement. I understand one has to assess and reassess before committing to a big project but do all that and finalize it before communicating your decision.
SPCEO1 wrote: If the meetings with US institutions went verry well last week (and I could see how that might be the case) those institutions might be pressing THTX to sell them shares. But if THTX was going to do that, why would they set up an ATM? Why not just do a regular offering under the current $150 million shelf offering that I am pretty sure is still in place? Since this is apparently not the case, it seems to me they intend to sit on this ATM option until a more optimal time to sell shares, just like they have sat on the shelf offering for nearly two years.
In the last conference call, the words "shareholder value" made an appearance. Those words have not been uttered a lot by THTX management over the years and I was heartened to see them make an appearance. Hopefully, we will see them back up those words with action and continue to process of rebuilding their credibility with investors. Everything will be easier for Paul and the board in the years to come if they are able to rebuild that credibility and everything will be harder if they blow it up once more.
There is a classic proverb in the Bible; "As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool returns to its folly". Let's hope THTX management and board do not return to their previous folly.
I have asked Leah Gibson to priovide any context she can regarding the deal and will pass along anything she might offer in that regard.