Regent Toppled: NASDAQ Boots Radio Group

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As expected, Regent Communications was delisted from the NASDAQ stock exchange Friday after failing to raise its share price above $1, the minimum requirement for listing.

The delisting is another piece of bad news as the company suffers an apparent financial implosion, including a recent missed payment on its debt, which raises the prospect of default or bankruptcy.

Regent disclosed the delisting in a filing with the SEC a few weeks after NASDAQ warned the radio group that such a move was imminent. Regent got a brief reprieve by requesting a meeting with NASDAQ's qualifications panel, hoping to be granted more time to attempt to boost its share price above $1.

But no extension was granted at the meeting on Jan. 7, suggesting that Regent's basic financial situation is so dire it was unable to present a plausible action plan to the qualifications panel.

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Regent is not alone in getting the boot from a stock exchange for failing to meet the minimum price requirements.

In February 2009, Citadel was delisted by the New York Stock Exchange after it failed to raise its stock price above the $1 minimum, presaging further financial difficulties that climaxed with its recent declaration of bankruptcy. More recently, Spanish Broadcasting System was warned in mid-December that it faces delisting from NASDAQ. Like Regent, SBS has bargained for time by asking for a meeting with the qualifications panel, but it seems likely to share Regent's fate.

On December 31, Regent missed a scheduled payment on its $165 million debt, prompting Standard & Poor's to downgrade its credit rating. In the case of other radio groups, missed payments have been followed by declarations of default by creditors, Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings, or both.

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