A reverse split is NEVER a good thing, no matter how it is spun by others. Some will argue that to get to NASDAQ or up list to any other exchange it is a necessary evil. While that statement might be true as far as the math goes, a company such as this, with its near term accretive assets, should not have need to take such steps. While in one hand I commend CEO Brent Willis and his management team for developing this company and aggressive growth strategy through acquisitions, I condemn his lack of visibility to see this event from occurring. A great business leader needs to be aggressive, yet not sacrificial to its core strategy and share holders. At a certain point, the CEO should have realized who he was doing business with, and either taken necessary steps to mitigate the debacle this has turned into, or, utilize the assets he acquired, leveraging their enterprise value to procure more traditional or favorable financing alternatives, and pay the debt converters off, before they ever received a share. One cannot expect to do a deal with the devil and expect to walk out of the gates of Hell with their eternal soul. Whether you are the president of a nation or the general on a battlefield, you are ultimately responsible for the actions of those under your command. It is an inconvenient truth that CEO Willis has shuttled the blame for this balance sheet mess to his prior CFO. It is CEO Willis' responsibility to guard the hen house from the foxes, not invite them to dinner.
For sure ECIG will be a dynamic leader in this, 'Budding," industry. For sure, ECIG will end up on a higher exchange. For sure ECIG will have at least one more HUGE run before this RS can be implemented. Take solace in that. But in my opinion, Brent Willis has just snatched defeat from the proverbial jaws of victory.
