Panache Beverage Inc. (fka WDKA)

[thesmalls]

clueless - thanks! that makes considerably more sense.

[thesmalls]

the distillery site is new and appears they are actively looking to grow that side of the business. vertical integration is still the key to reducing costs on Wodka and improving GM which is essential since it is in the low priced Vodka ranges. looks like they are doing a refresh on Alibi as well which has won some small acclaim but i certainly havent seen it anywhere i travel or even talked about (unlike Wodka).

more importantly is the complete slashing of the now realized useless overhead of the past mgmt team. the company has removed almost $2MM in overhead and should have slightly increased revenues based on last report and some assumptions on increased production at the distillery (more activity at the actual site).

if the clock is more than just a new website and provides some details on strategy/operating results going forward - this could see a quick rebound. right now - the market cap is just over $1MM and it had sales year end of $3.9MM in 2013 and should be around $2.3-3.0MM 2014 year end depending on ramp up at distillery and going back to their original distribution channels for Wodka. through 3Q14 they were at $1.9MM in revenues. while i dont expect them to get close to the $3.9MM of 2013 - looking at QoQ - they should have an impressive trend continuing and possibly a breakout quarter (relative to the last 4 in revenue):

Period Ending Jun 30, 2014 Mar 31, 2014 Dec 31, 2013 Sep 30, 2013
Total Revenue 656 635 545 306

if they are in the $700-900MM range - that would certainly look impressive on a YoY and QoQ basis and demonstrate an exponential increase in revenues on a R12 basis. while that alone wont be cause for lofty evaluations - it should remove the BK concerns, and provide a more fundamental valuation for the stock. right now - it is priced below BK levels considering the hard assets.

still very speculative and the company will need to address shareholders and provide some numbers but it does provide an interesting buying point for new/former investors. for me, it is an attractive pp to average down. i liked it more under $0.02 but if it goes back to the $0.30 range where it was with similar revenues, no distillery revenues, and significant decrease in SG&A - than this is still attractive.

if they look like they are on pace to do $4-5MM in revenues and possibly show positive net income on a F12 basis - this becomes a very attractive buy. for a growing company - 4-10x revenues is common. assuming $4MM in revenues - that would put market cap at $16MM with a 4X revenue valuation or 16X today's price. at that multiple - fair value today would be $0.64. if they are going to show positive net income - that would provide significant justification for a higher valuation.

from a mgmt standpoint - Dale was a marketer and brand specialist. while he put Wodka on the map as he did with other brands - it now seems obvious he was severely lacking in the mgmt/business skills to move this forward. Romer on the other hand has a background on both the operations and brand sides. addressing shareholders directly and getting numbers out along with some basic numbers/strategy would go a long way into restoring investor enthusiasm and bring around a faster turnaround in stock price.

[CluelessStockJunkie]

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=110956296

[thesmalls]

why in the world was the last post removed and who removed it...?

it was directly related to the "topic" of the clock on the website post and the company's marketing in general.

[Roland Rick Perry]

Clock on their website..

Says two days to go. I'd had to buy this right before a BK. And I'd hate not to buy it before a "resurgence!"

[thesmalls]

looks like someone else is starting to accumulate again. bigger volume day yesterday. not a lot in cash but being patient and large sellers have disappeared. offers seem to be more from traders who were looking for a short term gain buying in the $0.02s.

i have asked for an update from the company. looking for year end report and a general forecast/strategy going forward in 2015. hopefully the worst is behind the company and they are back on track with Wodka, Alibi, and the distillery. looks like the main capital/equity owner is still committed which is a good sign. they either still see value in the company or they are limping it along until they can unload it with the least amount of pain.

[thesmalls]

some interesting trading into the end of the year. wasnt many shares under $0.04 available. i started buying for a couple of reasons:

the primary lender/debt holder is still in this and looks like they may continue for another year with the changes made in 2014.

wodka is still being aggressively promoted/marketed in social media and in select markets. my local store started carrying it again which is well out of their key demographics. to me - this suggests either their distributor is now able to get it again and/or is confident the brand will continue.

if either of these are correct assumptions - there should be some follow up from the company in 1Q15. it seems there have been several large holders unloading positions throughout 2014 and more aggressively into the end of the year. if those positions have been largely erased and there is positive news about the continuation of the company - the stock price could see a very quick rise back to the high $0.20s to high $0.30s.

i remain a large holder and if there is sufficient volume - i can unload some higher priced shares and take the loss while keeping my core share amount the same. the risk on the additional shares at $0.01-$0.02 that i picked up is minimal from a cash basis or percentage basis compared to the overall holdings so for me, it was a good risk.

the stock remains extremely speculative at best and until there is anything definitive from the company - it will remain pure speculation but i was not the only one buying. it looked like several others were consistently competing with me for shares at the BID. 2015 could be considerably more interesting than 2014.

[thesmalls]

how are you going to prove fraud or breach of fiduciary responsibility...? hard to prove high compensation caused the strategy to fail which will ultimately be the defense.

since the insiders had control of the shares/voting power - one could argue that outside shareholders had no real vote on the compensation and/or the BOD was not acting as oversight to runaway mgmt.

be very difficult to sway a jury and the expense would probably for outweigh the collection/payout.

i am more disappointed by current lack of reporting/responsibility to existing shareholders.

[IPO$]

Easier to access and to be served legally then.

[Unpaid]

Previous Management has not fled to New Zealand, they are still based in New York.

[IPO$]

To open a class action lawsuit, there has to be damages. In this case, there were plenty of stock losses by most of the shareholders. Abusive salaries is hard to prove for fraud. They appeared to make all of their filings on time and accurately based on a surface only review. Also, former management probably fled back to New Zealand. Not a lot out there to recover our losses.

[thesmalls]

that was inexcusable. their last two quarters - compensation went berserk and certainly wasnt commensurate with sales/stock performance. from what i understand from the filings - some of those monies were paid back as part of the settlement with the note holder when the previous mgmt team surrendered their stock.

[IPO$]

$300,000 plus performance bonus for James Dale. Several other officers, one of which was his wife Agatha, also rec'd top heavy compensation.

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1314054/000147793214001637/wdka_ex1040.htm

[thesmalls]

to that end - i still see a lot of long term value in the brand/distillery. just depends on whether the primary sharheholder wants to be in the business, do a secondary and spin it off, or just shut it down and take the loss.

the Wodka and Alibi brands resonated. i thought Dale had more integrity and panache in his approach. i thought he was in this for the long term. one good thing is he only left with salary paid and got no back end package and ended up agreeing to pay significant monies back to the company.

[thesmalls]

there largest creditor is also their largest shareholder. it is no secret that they were cash crunched. i dont know what the future holds. the creditor may go ahead and put it into BK and get what they can off the sales of the assets (distillery and brand(s) ) and write off the rest of the loss. or they may recapitalize and/or do a secondary to raise cash and square up with those like yourself and "relaunch" the brands.

unfortunately - they have gone dark which means shareholders are not going to know much.

however, if you are going to take issue with the company - direct your ire to the past mgmt that ended up paying themselves exorbitantly while they put the company in the current cash crunch. frankly, i missed the increases in their compensation and i was relying heavily on how i saw the brands doing on shelves and speaking with distributors and bartenders where they focused their marketing. by the time i realized compensation was seriously askew -i had already amassed a large position that the daily volume simply did not allow me to get out of.

[Unpaid]

Thesmalls - have a look at the company turnover and the level of general creditor debt - its not that they won't pay, its that they can't pay. So I'll take your advice and just sit and wait a few more years.

I know of 5 people waiting for money - including me. This company is terminally ill.

[VVVVVV]

Well what is the amount do you know. What then caused the drop from $ .30 to two cents? Doubt the outstanding shares is low. Good luck lol

[thesmalls]

want to provide some examples of who they left unpaid?

hard not to be cynical when your alias was born yesterday and you come out taking pot shots.

were the suppliers working with the company or did they have a threatening attitude to begin with...? when my company was forced into this situation by partners who embezzled - most of my suppliers understood and worked with me to do what they could to take back inventory and/or provide some flexibility to get both of us whole.

some did not and immediately started the document trail and legal threats. guess who didnt get paid and/or got paid last?

i certainly dont know the situation here and how they treated suppliers but i do know that it is usually a two way street and when you are left in the street and bleeding - if someone comes at you swinging - you are going to swing back. if someone offers to help - you work with them.

[Unpaid]

They may have a great product, but how long can they last when they refuse to pay their bills. I'm sure the management get their salary, but anyone who has provided services to them has been told to F**** off.

[thesmalls]

they still have one great product and may or may not have a good one with Alibi Whiskey. i wonder how much of the failure was due to arrogance and/or greed compared to misjudging the market/trying to vertically integrate too fast. Dale's pay started to balloon along with his wife and other upper mgmt.

if it was a matter of trying to do too much with the vertical integration and product repatriation - then the brand/value should remain intact and the company can retrench and move forward. the distillery should be able to provide ancillary revenues as wellas meeting the company's own production.

however, since the company has gone dark - we are going to get very limited information. at the current price point - the holding company could simply buy up the remaining float and take the company private and spin off/IPO later.

[techtrader01]

WDKA had Funding a Great Product and Blew it!

[thesmalls]

There is a really low OS count and majority of those are held by insiders. No need for a R/s. If the holdng company keeps this going - they may choose to increase the AS to raise capital rather than continue to self fund but there is no benefit to them for a R/s at this point.

[VVVVVV]

This is a REVERSE SPLIT waiting to happen!! IMHO

[thesmalls]

sales have been ugly but have not reflected revenues from new distillery which really only started the last part of 2Q14. it appears minimal transfer of branded products occurred to the distillery unless i misunderstood the last 10Q. the vertical integration was integral to their plan of driving down costs/improving GMs and controlling supply chain. were they successful bringing in the ancillary revenue sources by being the 3rd party packager?

the WODKA brand still seems to have a presence where it has been traditionally marketed. i dont really know about Alibi.

if either/both of those brands have staying power - it would be in the lenders best interest as the primary shareholder to drive the distillery, integrate production, and let the brands move. obviously needs a mgmt group that has the panache (pun obviously intended) and industry knowledge to make them move. it would be a 12-24 month process.

either way - long term shareholders should have an answer on viability in the next two quarters. however, it will depend on how and what they self report to pinksheets.com to keep them at some level of reporting status.

[CluelessStockJunkie]

It'll pay the commission lol

[IPO$]

Ok

[CluelessStockJunkie]

I bought a LITTLE bit at .011, not many to get.

[IPO$]

potentially a good time to average in

[CluelessStockJunkie]

Just about a lost cause.

[thesmalls]

28K shares traded today - most of that in one trade at the ASK at $0.025. we certainly have a long way to go back towards anything respectable concerning price but that is the first time in months and months where buyers came in. 32K on the offer at $0.0223.

with no direction from the company and most of the news this year being decidedly negative (other than their main lender continuing to lend) - why would someone now start accumulating? now - it was only $625 in a trade amount but even for a trader - why take that risk when you may be looking at an extended time frame to make a return/unload?

the thing it makes the most sense to be is someone (like myself) who has been a long term investor making a purchase with the intent of selling those shares after 30 days and getting a tax write off on the original 25K purchased and lowering the cost basis for the rest of the shares.

if the buying/price continues to increase - maybe we will see something of substance about the future of the brands/company. they remain active on social media promoting the brands - primarily Wodka

[CluelessStockJunkie]

I have bids out there at .01, figured it is cheap enough for a bounce.

[thesmalls]

This has been one of my more bizarre investments. I still dont know what to make of it. It remains very closely held so it wouldn't take much selling to drive it down. I still have no confidence that the capital group will reinvest. They have the most to lose but also may cut strings and recover what they can on the sale of the distillery and liquidate.

Wodka still is being advertised and in the stores in my market where they previously were (which was very few as I am in Michigan and not a key market). They are still very active on social media but that isnt really driving any expense.

The brands still seem to have value and if the distillery drives revenues on a contract basis until they regain the lost ground under the mismanagement - then the ship could quickly be righted. I wish I had confidence this would happen. Certainly wont read about it since they arent filing.

Interesting thought on playing chess with the filing to drive off remaining sellers. I havent sold any. Unfortunately my holeings were too large to make any dent/difference with the light volume and tanking price.

Still seems there is a lot more to this story than we are privvy to

[IPO$]

If we only knew if the company would also bounce back.

[CluelessStockJunkie]

Seems so, place to buy for a bounce?

[IPO$]

the selling has stopped.

[IPO$]

Yes they did....the stuff out of Poland was awesome...the new distillery in usa not sure about.

[CluelessStockJunkie]

Nope but they did have some damn good vodka !!

[IPO$]

I don't think they had our best interests at heart.

[CluelessStockJunkie]

Yup, they sucked big time. All that talk and for nothing.

[IPO$]

Pathetic what has occurred by the old regime....worst money management in history

[CluelessStockJunkie]

Its got hit again today. The selling wont stop.

[IPO$]

if not, then the stock really is collapsing with no end in sight. terrible what this former team did to the SH's.....is there talks of a class action lawsuit....at least recover the building as its oonly asset???

[CluelessStockJunkie]

What if not?

[IPO$]

what if they are doing this on purpose so as to drawn out all of the sellers before running the stock back up?

[IPO$]

SOX is not that expensive for WDKA because 404 internal control audits do not apply as the size does not meet the thresholds for requirement. The Form 15 means to me that WDKA does not want to be reporting any longer. Perhaps they will file a Form 10 one day to once again become reporting but I do not know. the stock will continue to trade on the pinks and Rule 144 will be the only way to free up shares since S-1 and S-8 are no longer available. This does restrict WDKA from hiring a banker to go on the cover of a follow on offering however.

[thesmalls]

guess my last post got removed. must have hit too close to home for someone.

volume isnt too bad all things considering. i wasnt expecting an immediate tanking but more like slow speed with surges here and there.

the main debt holder has the largest vested interest in seeing this succeed than anyshareholder and they remained investing and capitalizing throughout 2014. so what changed if anything? they are still pushing Wodka hard on social media and the distillery should have been producing product in 3Q.

biggest risk for common shareholder is the value of BK for the debt holder as an "asset" to offset gains elsewhere. tough spot for the common holder to be in but a real possibility.

flip side - SO (Sarbanes Oxley) legislation compliance is VERY expensive for small companies (probably starting around $250-500K and up) and just may nto be worth it with the small shareholder base and limited capital. besides, with the debt holder controlling a majority - they really do not need to rely on shareholder votes for any major decisions.

if they remain legit and above board - they can still report through pinksheets.com at a fraction of the cost and keep the stock trading viably.

[CluelessStockJunkie]

.0001 by 9:31 ?

[thesmalls]

Well shareholders just got fvcked right in the a $$ hole on that 8K. Never good on a Friday postmarket release but I certainly wasnt expecting deregistering.

Not sure how they can claim negligible assets since they have the distillery on the balance sheet even if it is offset by the subordinate note.

[CluelessStockJunkie]

I do agree

[thesmalls]

looking at volume compare to OS and i really want to believe that the vast majority of holders are committed to the long term and feel with some amount of confidence that the new mgmt/finance group will turn this around. however, there is also no buying to suggest that confidence exists as well.

at a certain point, it will make sense for me to double down and then unload the higher priced shares for the tax write off with the assumption that when the turn around happens - i will have both the tax loss and the gain. but, there has been virtually nothing from the company over the last 3-4 months. wodka is still doing promotional events, social media is still active, i still see it in the few places in my area that previously had sold it - but there is still no confidence that it will remain and/or the majority holder will continue to invest vs. selling off the distillery and brands and moving forward.