Let’s take a short trip back in time and view of all the events that have occurred over the past month;
- Jack ‘CEASED’ as CEO 29/08/2018 (ANN) – No explanation whatsoever still to date, almost as if he never existed despite all his efforts over the past year. SP took a 30% hit as a direct result, management underestimated the confidence the shareholders held in Jack or did the board not care?
For Jack to cease without any further explanation shows he did not act outside any breaches of the corporation’s act, so he must have been removed by management due to some internal issue that must have been very insignificant not to announce to market but worth harming not just the share price but also the confidence in the shareholders.
Effectsof this event company falls >30%
- Clinical study results 06/09/2018 (ANN) – 5 days after the removal of Jack, the clinical study results were announced. IMO the results were released in a rather poor/confusing manner, we are shareholders not statisticians. Thankfully some posters on HC helped formulate some understanding on the matter. Why would management release an announcement that is crucial to the company in such a poor manner?
The board removed Jack prior to these results (IMO Jack was the mouthpiece for MEB). The Cosentino background is based on numerous medical products that have past FDA approval, See below link of their achievements
http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/minntech-corporation-history/
At such a crucial time why would the board choose to remove Jack in such a manner that doesn’t only put doubt in the shareholders but also doubt in the product due to a poorly presented announcement?
With the knowledge of the clinical results coming up, they removed the CEO that has a rich background in the field and who has led the process to date.
I hope the current board has an answer to the above as this has really stained the company.
Effectsof this event company falls >20%
Sofar, the company has dropped around 50%
- Clinical validation results phone call 12/09/2018 (ANN) – The call was held to clarify the poorly announced clinical trial results. Despite the scientific advisory board’s best efforts in explaining the science and math behind the results it did not help restore confidence in the company. The job of the scientific advisory board is to present their findings to the board of directors and CEO, the board of directors’ job but mainly the CEO is to present the companies findings and current activities to its shareholders, I believe this has been demonstrated poorly since Jacks departure. Brian Mower (interim CEO, Financial background) has been placed in a position that requires vast knowledge in the field, not knowledge in the company’s financials.
Effectsof this event, company falls >10%
- Executive leadership changes 21/09/2018 (ANN) – Ms Slocombe (also known as Peta) was removed as Senior vice president in corporate health, for the readers who do not know Ms Slocombe, her corporate wellness company ‘Vital conversations’ was purchased by MEB. Ms Slocombe has a master’s in psychology who played a big part in MEB’s mental health corporate product rollout (potential revenue source for the company). Ms Slocombe was replaced with Ms Jennifer Solitario (don’t think it’s a coincidence she shares the same surname as a 5.3% shareholder of the company).
Jennifer’s background has been based in the health insurance industry, with a Bachelor of business.
Comparing both Ms Slocombe and Ms Solitario, we can see they are both very competent for the role but why would they remove Ms Slocombe who has vast knowledge in the mental health field and has been significantly apart of the corporate rollout.
Compare the 2 for yourselves, see below;
https://au.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-solitario-0078382b
https://au.linkedin.com/in/peta-slocombe-b6692330
Why has the board of directors removed such competent people without explanation in such a crucial time, what respect does the board have for their shareholders?
With all the above said, how can all the major shareholders not see the management of the company is incompetent. This 249 should have occurred when Jack was removed without explanation and when shareholder wealth has not been diminished to such extent as it has been now. I am surprised that there were not any other major shareholders listed on the 249.
The product and the mental health field is a growing space, not just in Australia but worldwide, let’s not let an incompetent board destroy all efforts made by MEB throughout the years.
MEB was travelling slow and steady with Jack, MEB needs more competent people like him running it and it will flourish.