Mercer Targets Prepackaged Chapter 11, Extends Note Grace to 90 Days; Shares Jump 126%
MERC has more than doubled off its 52-week low of $0.116 on elevated volume (11× avg).
Summary
Mercer now expects to file prepackaged Chapter 11 cases, with confirmation targeted about 45 days later, and warns Nasdaq delisting is expected with no assurance of OTC trading after any suspension. The company also pushed the grace period on its overdue interest payment for the 12.875% senior notes due 2028 from 30 to 90 days; that payment was due October 1. This builds on the Nov 2 announcement of restructuring support agreements with holders of more than 87% of the senior notes and a majority of the company's other noteholders. The stock closed up 5% at $0.13 Monday and jumped 126.19% to $0.28 after hours — a penny-stock reaction to a deal that wipes out the current equity, not a recovery. The 45-day confirmation target is the next hard checkpoint.
At the time of this announcement, MERC was trading at $0.29 on NASDAQ in the Manufacturing sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $8.4M. The 52-week trading range was $0.12 to $2.85. This news item was assessed with negative market sentiment and an importance score of 9 out of 10. Source: Wiseek News.