Shares In CTPartners Drop to New Low of $2
June 11, 2015 – Shares in executive search firm CTPartners dipped 31 percent in the last five days and dropped 58 percent in the last four weeks, according to a new analysis conducted by Hunt Scanlon Media. Shares this week in the beleaguered recruiting outfit have fallen to a new low of $2 per share. On November 17, 2014 the shares registered a one-year high of $23.75, but have been in a nosedive ever since. The company’s former CEO, Brian Sullivan, sold 873,806 shares of CTPartners stock on June 2. That stock, sold at a relative premium to where it is today, yielded an average price of $2.96, for a total transaction value of $2,586,466. With the sale completed, Mr. Sullivan now directly owns 24,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at just $48,194. Just under 40 percent of shares in CTPartners are currently owned by company insiders; 34 percent of the shares are held by institutions.
Mr. Sullivan stepped down as CEO of the publicly-traded search company in April amid alleged accusations of sexual discrimination bias and a reported investigation by the EEOC into discriminatory actions made by some members of the company’s senior management team, including Mr. Sullivan. Over a turbulent five-month period the company withdrew two stock offerings and more than 40 high level defections ensued. Because those departures put the company in violation of covenants in place with lenders, the company was forced into takeover talks with DHR International, a Chicago-based rival. Those talks remain active, though DHR has not indicated whether it will close a deal with the company that many have expected might take place as early as next week.
CTPartners has seen its market capitalization plummet since the end of last year. According to the latest valuations, the dollar value of the company’s outstanding shares is about $19 million.
Contributed by Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor, Hunt Scanlon Media
