Shares in Celadon Pharmaceuticals PLC (AIM:CEL) plunged 34% in the first hour of trading on Monday after the company confirmed plans to delist from London’s AIM market and announced the immediate resignation of four non-executive directors.
The sell-off followed a power shift on the board led by chief executive James Short, who owns nearly 40% of the company. Last week, Short informed the board of his intention to remove the chairman and all four non-executives, having failed to gain support for his proposal to take the business private.
By Friday, the targeted directors - Robert Barr, Elizabeth Shanahan, David Firth and Steven Hajioff - had all stepped down, and Short dropped the resolution.
That left Short and Alexander Anton, the chairman, as the only two remaining directors. Celadon now says it will press ahead with a vote on delisting, which it reckons will help cut running costs and make it easier to raise money on better terms as a private company.
If shareholders back the move, trading in the company’s shares will be cancelled and a matched bargain facility - an alternative trading mechanism for private shares - will be set up through J P Jenkins.
Anton said he would review his position after the vote and expects to resign if the delisting is approved.
Celadon grows and supplies medical cannabis in the UK and has been among the small group of firms to receive a licence to sell its products to the NHS.
It is one of scores of companies that are leaving the junior market citing poor valuations, a lack of liquidity and limited access to growth capital.
The stock was down 4.73p at 9.27p.