SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Great Basin Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ:GBSN), a molecular diagnostics company, announced today a 1-for-35 reverse split of its common stock. The Company expects that it will be effective at 5:00 pm EDT on March 30, 2016 and that the Company’s common stock will open for trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market on Thursday, March 31, 2016 on a post-split basis. At the effective time of the reverse stock split, every 35 shares of the Company’s issued and outstanding common stock, par value $0.0001, will be consolidated into 1 newly issued and outstanding share of common stock, par value of $0.0001.
The reverse stock split will reduce the number of shares of the Company’s outstanding common stock from approximately 114.2 million to approximately 3.3 million. Proportional adjustments will be made to the Company's outstanding preferred shares, stock options, warrants, and equity incentive plan. The number of authorized shares of the Company's common stock will remain unchanged.
“Just under 75% of Great Basin stockholders who voted on the reverse split at the special meeting voted in favor of this action,” said Ryan Ashton, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Great Basin Scientific. “As we stated in our proxy materials filed on March 1, 2016, we believe this reverse-split is an important step in attracting investment from institutions who are prevented from owning stock in companies whose shares trade below certain amounts and toward meeting our NASDAQ listing requirements.”
Ashton continued, “We recognize that some investors are concerned about the impact of a second reverse split so soon after the reverse we effected on December 14, 2015, but with the Series C Warrants now terminated, we hope investors can see that the current situation is very different.”
Stockholders who have existing stock certificates will receive written instructions by mail from the Company's transfer agent, American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC. Stockholders who hold their shares in brokerage accounts or "street name" are not required to take any action to effect the exchange of their shares. Such stockholders will be contacted by their brokers with instructions. To the extent the reverse stock split would result in a stockholder owing a fractional share, such stockholder will have the number of post-reverse split shares to which they are entitled rounded up to the next whole number of shares. No stockholders will receive cash in lieu of fractional shares.
Additional information regarding the Company's reverse stock split is available in the definitive proxy statement filed by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 1, 2016.
About Great Basin Scientific
Great Basin Scientific is a molecular diagnostics company that commercializes breakthrough chip-based technologies. The Company is dedicated to the development of simple, yet powerful, sample-to-result technology and products that provide fast, multiple-pathogen diagnoses of infectious diseases. The Company's vision is to make molecular diagnostic testing so simple and cost-effective that every patient will be tested for every serious infection, reducing misdiagnoses and significantly limiting the spread of infectious disease.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statement regarding events, trends and business prospects, which may affect our future operating results and financial position, including statements regarding the effective date of the reverse stock split, the reverse split creating a higher stock price that attracts institutional investors, the Company’s ability to regain compliance with NASDAQ listing requirements and similar statements. Forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially, and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. These risk and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: (i) our limited operating history and history or losses; (ii) our ability to develop and commercialize new products and the timing of commercialization; (iii) our ability to obtain capital when needed; and (iv) other risks set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risks set forth in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof and Great Basin Scientific specifically disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.
