I was just reading you thoughts and noticed the question - "the $4m grant was for a 3 year program. Did the company really need to match the 'full' grant right before the AGM?"
I think the answer is probably 'yes'.
I suspect that the Government has both a requirement to show the matched funding prior to the grant agreement being signed, and also a requirement for ADO to sign the agreement before a certain date. I don't know what the date of signing is / was, but I can guarantee that the Government wants a signature sooner rather than later, and they wouldn't sign ADO up unless they can show they have the money. So that if ADO aren't going take the funding in the end, the Government can pivot to spending the money somewhere else and recover any political fall out well before an election.
The alternative of not accepting the grant on the other hand has a whole lot of negative consequences that would go well beyond the present pain of this dilution.
I wish we already had the money in the bank too. But we don't.
We had to match the funding, and (I suspect) there was a requirement to sign by a certain date. I am not sure what other options we had. Maybe DR was looking at other options but in the end it came down to this and he had to act quickly as we were running out of time to sign. That wouldn't surprise me either.
But, truth is I don't know. I do think it would be helpful for everyone for the CEO to explain a little bit more at the AGM, as I think it is reasonable that we get some indication of why and why now.
Good luck all. EB
ADO Price at posting:
2.2¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
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