Internet consultant Organic faces delisting
The San Francisco-based Internet consulting firm announces that it could be booted from the Nasdaq stock exchange for failing to meet a $1 minimum bid price.
The company requested a review to contest delisting, but in a tersely worded news release it said reversing the delisting would not come easily.
"There can be no assurance that the (Nasdaq) Qualifications Panel will grant Organic's request for continued listing," according to the news release. "There can be no assurance...that the company will apply for listing on another quotation system or exchange if its securities are delisted from The Nasdaq National Market or that if the company does apply for listing that it would be eligible initially for such listing or that if the company does become listed, that it would be able to maintain eligibility."
Organic is one of scores of e-commerce companies that have been delisted in recent months as the stock market particularly hammers technology holdings. Organic stock closed Tuesday at 36 cents, down 55.69 percent since the beginning of the year. It's 97.54 percent lower than its 52-week high of $14.62.
Like most e-commerce consulting firms, Organic has been squeezed by the tightening economy as well as fierce competition from brick-and-mortar consulting companies. Old Economy consulting giants such as McKinsey and Accenture are eager to gain market share from Internet start-ups.
IBM and other computing giants are also investing heavily in their consulting franchises and eroding market share from boutique firms. Organic announced in March it would lay off about 35 percent of its work force, or about 300 people.