I think I see what is happening hereI get the feeling that the NCIB, and maybe future ones if the cash flow is there, are an attempt to take this company private now that it may never need to do a public placement again.
I'm guessing spin out the AM arm that isn't quite there yet to make sure they can still do public placements to pay for getting it across the finish line and profitable.
This is not a bad thing overall, any current shareholders will be able to hold as long as they like while the price goes up from share buybacks and revenue coming in until we get a sweetheart deal from the company when they go private.
Peter already owns 53% of the company and that means every share bought back his ownership goes up by half that share.
An NCIB is usually a good thing for the SP if the company is actively interested in buying back because they can only do so when the last sale is down, it inherently buoys the price.