Connecture, a company that sells Web-based software designed to aid consumers shopping for health plans, said Friday it plans to withdraw its shares from the Nasdaq stock exchange next month.
Brookfield, WI-based Connecture (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CNXR]]) went public in 2014. Since then, the company’s shares have been listed on the Nasdaq Global Market (NGM), the middle of the exchange’s three market tiers.
Nasdaq requires that companies listed on the exchange each have a market capitalization of at least $15 million. Additionally, the stock price of Nasdaq-listed business must remain at or above $1, on average. Connecture said Friday that it has at times previously failed to meet one or both requirements. In May, Nasdaq sent Connecture a deficiency notice that warned the company it could soon be delisted for not meeting the $15 million market cap minimum.
Connecture’s announcement on Friday triggered a mass sell-off of shares in the company. As of 3:02 p.m. on Monday in New York, its stock price was $0.28 a share, down more than 42 percent from Friday’s closing price of $0.49 a share. Its market cap is currently about $6.4 million.
Connecture said that it plans to submit the form to withdraw from the NGM on or about Oct. 30, and to officially withdraw on or about Nov. 9. The company said it’s taking the necessary steps to list its common stock on the OTCQX U.S. Market exchange, an over-the-counter stock marketplace which has less stringent listing requirements than Nasdaq.
Originally founded as SimplyHealth in Atlanta in 1999, Connecture has gone through several evolutions over the years. The company relocated to Wisconsin in 2012. It brought on Jeff Surges as CEO, a title he still holds, in late 2015, about a year after going public.
Earlier this year, Surges said that “the uncertain political status of the Affordable Care Act and proposed health plan merger activity created market headwinds” for Connecture, which impacted the company’s growth projections.
Connecture said its board of directors approved its voluntary withdrawal from the NGM.
