NorthPoint Communications, the beleaguered Emeryville-based DSL provider that has suffered major stock depreciation, corporate and shareholder lawsuits, and near bankruptcy during the last 52 weeks, was delisted from NASDAQ Thursday morning just weeks after the company filed for bankruptcy protection.
In early December, NorthPoint issued a lawsuit against phone giant Verizon Communications for pulling out of a scheduled merger agreement, which Verizon blamed primarily on NorthPoint’s dwindling stock price (the company has seen its stock plummet from $33 per share to just 25 cents during the last 52 week period). Just 10 days later, a shareholder filed a lawsuit against NorthPoint for, among other things, alleged waste of corporate assets, gross mismanagement and breach of contract.
January yielded no new year’s blessings, either, as the company filed for Chapter 11 protection January 16, blaming Verizon’s pullout for the filing. Regardless of fault, the filing was enough to prompt NASDAQ to boot the company from its listing, sending it down, new symbol and all (Nasdaq: NPNTQ), to the Electronic Pink Sheets.
“We’re trading on the Pink Sheets right now and just continuing business as usual,” says Marvin Wamble, a spokesperson for NorthPoint. “Due to the bankruptcy we’re in a process of going through a structured sale of some of our assets, and we are focusing more on our small and medium-sized business customers, but we will continue to serve all our clients, including big players like MSN and Radio Shack.”
Wamble says the lawsuit with Verizon is still ongoing.