The back-door listing was a common thing in the dot-com days......

The back-door listing was a common thing in the dot-com days... take a tiny penny-dreadful mining company with a few licenses, a few bucks in the bank, no exploration or drilling programs to speak of and bugger all in annual expenses, and either buy it out or merge with it, thereby saving all the expenses of an IPO and a new listing. A few that spring to mind are Western Minerals (which became adultshop.com), Impress Technologies (can't remember their old name, they have, ironically, now morphed into an oil explorer) and Britannia Gold (who are now Solbec Pharmaceuticals, and may yet make everyone rich when they develop their cancer cure but must be kicking themselves for turning their backs on the gold industry).

Ironically, a few of the leftover dot-flops are now being used as vehicles for back-door listings of promising mining companies. But the target needs to be viable with a low cash burn. And it's not like proven uranium leases are just lying around.

Here's a thought - the dempgraphic most in need of eyewear are seniors and retirees, to most of whom computers and the internet are a complete mystery, and who have no idea how to pronounce the @ symbol. It really only entered common usage with the coming of e-mail.