12 Jul NASDAQ grants Merge more time for compliance
West Allis, Wis. – Merge Healthcare has received permission to continue trading company stock while it works to regain compliance with NASDAQ listing standards.
Merge, a developer of medical imaging and information management software and services, received notification that the NASDAQ will allow it to continue listing its common stock subject to a series of filings by no later than Aug. 29, 2006. The company was unable to comply with filing requirements by a July 7 deadline, and it requested an extension.
The NASDAQ Listing Qualifications Panel sent the written notice, stating the stock would remain on the NASDAQ National Market until Aug. 29, giving Merge a new deadline to file its annual report for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2005, and all required restatements for the quarter ended March 31, 2006.
Merge also will be required to file reports for the quarter ended June 30, 2006, to regain compliance with listing standards.
The company recently completed an investigation that uncovered improper financial reporting dating back to 2002, a disclosure that led to the resignation of three top executives.
Merge is being sued by shareholders who claim that members of its management team violated federal securities law as part of a $325 million stock purchase of Cedara Corp., a Canadian software company that develops products for the medical imaging OEM market.
Shareholders charge that, at the time of the 2005 acquisition, Merge executives issued materially false and misleading statements that claimed the merger was successful.
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