28 Jan NASDAQ council stays decision on Merge listing
Milwaukee, Wis. – The financially troubled Merge Technologies, which develops medical imaging and information management software and services, has announced that a previous decision to suspend trading of its securities has been stayed pending further review of its compliance with Securities and Exchange Commission listing standards.
The company, which does business as Merge Healthcare, has received a written notification from the NASDAQ Listing and Hearing Review Council stating that the council has elected to review the decision of the NASDAQ Listing Qualifications Panel and stay the decision of the panel to suspend trading of the company’s securities if Merge Technologies had not filed certain securities filings by January 29, 2008.
The company previously disclosed the panel’s determination on Nov. 1, 2007. The council’s decision to stay the suspension is subject to further review, and the company has been invited to provide evidence of compliance with listing standards to the council on or before Feb. 29, 2008.
Late in 2007, the company revised downward its second quarter 2007 financial numbers, and announced that it had filed restated financial statements for the 2004, 2005 and 2006, and restated financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2007 and 2006. It was the latest in a series of restated quarterly and annual financial reports dating back to 2003, prompting the SEC to launch a formal investigation into the company’s accounting.
As previously announced, the company has filed its 2006 annual report and quarterly reports for the three months ended March 31, 2007 and June 30, 2007, respectively. In early February, Merge expects to file its quarterly report for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2007, and attributed the delay in the filing to additional effort required to complete the valuation of the company’s intangible assets by an independent valuation consultant. This very likely will result in the write-down of all or substantially all of the goodwill and other intangible assets of the company.
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