Film Roman Inc. yesterday filed the required documents to deregister its common stock with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The animation house behind The Simpsons thus suspends its reporting obligations under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934.
"Our Board of Directors has unanimously decided to take this action," says John Hyde, Film Roman president and CEO, "because we believe that the advantages of continuing as a public-reporting company are far outweighed by the disadvantages. As a public-reporting company, the Company incurs significant accounting, legal and administrative costs that are associated with compliance with the SEC’s reporting requirements. We believe that these cost savings will have a positive impact on the company’s results of operations."
Immediately upon the filing of a Form 15 with the SEC, the company will no longer be required to file periodic reports with the SEC, including Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K, and the company’s shares will be voluntarily delisted from trading on the OTC Bulletin Board. Deregistration of common stock is expected to become effective within 90 days of filing. It is possible that Film Roman’s common stock will be quoted on the Pink Sheets, to the extent that market makers continue to make a market in its shares. However, there is no guarantee that trading will continue.
In addition to Fox’s primetime animated favorites and Saturday-morning fare like X-Men: Evolution, Film Roman is currently producing the adult-oriented, animated comedy Free for All for Showtime. The studio is also co-producing the 3D series Tripping the Rift with CineGroupe in Canada.
