They pulled off the financing in spite of very shaky market conditions where credit and investment capital only goes to those companies or projects that have serious prospects of prospering in the face of generally tough broader economic conditions.
To suggest they should go to retail investors to raise the money is completely unrealistic. To even express resentment over not getting a piece of a private placement is not reasonable.
For one thing, the private placements themselves typically require a proven net worth of $1M from each individual investor. That eliminates most people right away.
What this means in relation to your expressed disappointment is if you're worth $1M yourself you could have called them up and tried to talk your way into a PP. Complaining about it after the fact just doesn't cut it. If you have a desire to buy restricted stock instead of free market shares you should make that clear to every company that interests you and make sure they put you on their list of go to guys when a financing arises. Complaining about it now is meaningless.
And if you're not worth $1M then too bad. They certainly didn't need to do it any way other than how they did it and they definitely did not need to broadcast their intentions nor should they.
They DID have serious interest from investors which would negate any need to publicize such financing needs anyway. And that means you keep a lid on it and get it done.
And that is how it is done when done well and it was.
When you have a successful fund that invested in your company below a dollar still supporting your company after a 5 bagger instead of dumping their stock I think that usually means you have a winner. That Praetorian is still very much on board is very significant.
I will take such players in a financing any time. Sorry, but I don't subscribe to your evident philosophy of including the little guys since they couldn't participate anyway and if they could it was up to them to make their interest known.
Finally, your anger over the price of the financing completely forgets that it was completed AFTER the very big August market drop and the stock was financed at the price the market would bear.
Maybe now that the stock closed at $4.50 you think a $2.75 is bad by comparison, but it is completely lacking in actual historical basis. That WAS THE PRICE TO BE HAD at that time.
And in business the timing of funds is a factor right up there with the cost of financing. And in the case of TBLC, the timing seems to have been a matter of continued progress which we pretty much know now to have been the case post-financing, i.e. the promised acquisition of additional rigs for Kettle's expansion plus activity on their many properties to prep them for future joint ventures.
It takes money to grow and they got it at a decent price when other companies can't get any money at all. And for the people who did participate in the PP it was a good move from today's price and unlike you I'm glad the people who financed our further growth are benefitting too.
