"Trumpiene": is that why they refer to him as Lucky Pierre? (I know nothing about Canadian politics other than it is a parliamentary federal democracy and so I take its machinations to be more noise than signals).
Spent some of the day yesterday trying to track down any updated info on the merger process. Lucas Dow does address it regularly but plays with a very straight bat, and sticks to the script prepared for him. He did say in one recent presentation that the lawyers involved (including their champion, Freehills) are making out like bandits and the multiple jurisdictions is complicating the processes.
But the most informative merger update of late that I could find came from Keeffy Phillips, el presidente of Piedmont, from their Q4CY24 earnings call from late February. (
Link, here) In the transcript of that presentation - which is in that link - during the Q&A segment, KP seemed to indicate that getting approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the merger sets the critical path for the process. KP said that depending on whether the SEC is fast or slow in giving their clearance for the deal would likely determine whether the deal goes through in June or in July.
He also said that back then Sayona would be lodging their preliminary or initial SEC documents "in the next few weeks". Hopefully, we got told when that happens. Here is a
link to a bit of info about the process with the SEC. The purpose of the process with the SEC is for the SEC to clear what Piedmont stockholders get told when they go to vote on the merger deal. KP did caution that as Sayona has not interacted with the SEC before the merger might be treated like an IPO (the suggestion being that the SEC might be more thorough in checking what Sayona claims). It seems the SEC only takes a few weeks to run their eye over the initial submission from Sayona before they go back telling the company what the SEC wants to see in the final documents to go to Piedmont stockholders. Once Sayona lodges the final submission then the timing to call the stockholders meeting is all up to the SEC.
KP did not seem to think any of the other required steps, including agreement from the share/stock holders of both Piedmont and Sayona, will be a problem. So, perhaps four months before the new reality dawns but in the meantime we remain adrift (similar to the Valley of Death the biotechs need to traverse and what the junior miners experience with the Lassonde Curve).
(20min delay)