RE:article on BYLmingzhu, thanks for posting the link. Interesting article.
It is indeed a positive sign that insiders participated in the recent sale of $0.75 units. In the November 24, 2020 press release announcing the offering it was stated:
"It is anticipated that certain directors and officers of the Company will purchase a minimum of $1.1 million and a maximum of $1.9 million of the Units pursuant to the Offering."
From recent SEDI filings (assuming they're now up to date), insiders bought a total of 1,416,600 units, which adds up to $1,062,450. The buyers were:
Jeffrey Royer (chair) - 1,333,600 units
Randy Dewey (CEO) - 83,000 units
The total of $1,062,450 (insider purchases) comes up $37,550 short of the $1.1 million minimum total anticipated in the Nov. 24 press release. Not a huge shortfall but it does make you wonder which insiders might have gotten cold feet, and why.
Might it be that the demand from Bay Street institutions was so great that some insiders simply chose to step aside out of the goodness of their hearts? Hmm. Maybe, though there's certainly no reason why the size of the offering could not have been increased. It happens all the time.
================
Regardless, it's interesting to make note of the various insiders who conspicuously did NOT participate in the $0.75 unit offering. Let's take a look at some of them.
Board member Janice Davis bought zero units. In comparison, she bought 10,799 shares ($0.926) on June 30, 2020 under "prospectus exemption" (in conjunction with the convertible debenture share-based interest payment).
Board member Barry Reiter bought zero units. (Mr. Reiter bought 53,999 shares ($0.926) on June 30, 2020 under the same "prospectus exemption.")
Board member David Saska bought zero units.
Board member Donald Simmonds bought zero units.
Board member Harold Wolkin bought zero units. The case of Mr. Wolkin is interesting because he has a substantial history of buying Baylin shares as an insider. And he's never had a chance to buy them at anywhere near such a low price as in the recent offering.
Mr. Wolkin bought 53,999 shares ($0.926) on June 30, 2020 under the "prospectus exemption."
He also bought:
30,000 shares in 2014 ($3.39)
30,300 shares in 2015 ($1.90 - $2.05)
121,869 shares in 2016 ($1.70 - $1.85)
106,383 shares in 2017 ($2.35)
16,129 shares in 2018 ($3.10)
But, for whatever reason, Mr. Wolkin chose to buy zero of the $0.75 units. Given that he was a very senior officer at BMO for decades, I doubt that he was somehow not able to afford them.
Senior officer Milorad Gavrilovic bought zero units.
Senior officer Hyun Mo Moon bought zero units.
Senior officer John Restivo bought zero units.
CFO Michael Wolfe bought zero units.
To be fair, Mr. Gavrilovic and Mr. Restivo were recently granted options (50,000 and 100,000 respectively). That could be a reason why they might want to pass on buying additional shares (and warrants).
Regardless, that's quite a list of insiders who chose not to participate in this recent deeply-discounted unit offering.