One of Wilmington’s most popular local restaurant groups has filed for bankruptcy, but its owner said the Chapter 11 filings are a necessary step. According to bankruptcy documents filed earlier this month, the creditor with the largest unsecured claim against Indochine limited liability companies is North State Bank, with a debt of nearly $2.4 million.
Hemp-based NC company boosts number of IPO shares
Maverick Lifestyle, an unprofitable maker of hemp-based cigarettes, gummies and related cannabinoid products based in eastern North Carolina, increased the number of shares in its upcoming initial public offering.
The Stantonsburg-based company plans to raise $6 million by offering 1.2 million shares at prices from $4.50 to $5, according to a recent report by Renaissance Capital, an investment adviser specializing in IPO research and management. Maverick previously planned to offer 800,000 shares from $4.50 to $5.50.
At the midpoint of the revised range, Maverick, planning to trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol MVRK, will raise 45% more in proceeds than previously anticipated and achieve a fully diluted market value of $55 million, Renaissance said. It reported Maverick sales of $3 million in the 12 months ended June 30.
Maverick makes and sells hemp-derived cannabinoid products, according to a securities filing. Cannabis refers to all products derived from the plant Cannabis sativa. Unlike Maverick’s products, marijuana comes from parts of the plant that contain substantial amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
Maverick said its offerings include “pre rolled hemp joints and hemp cigarettes, hemp cigarillos, blunts, disposable vapes, gummies, and puff ball edibles.”
“Our goal is to provide choice, affordability, and a legal smoking experience for both existing tobacco and marijuana consumers and new hemp smokers as a preferred adult-use alternative to tobacco products and expensive, inaccessible cannabis consumption,” Maverick said in the filing.
The company warned to potential investors that it “has a limited operating history” since its formation in March 2022.
“We expect to continue to incur net losses for the foreseeable future and we may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future,” the filing said, reporting net losses of $1.8 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2023.
At that time, the company had accumulated deficit of approximately $7.7 million, and working capital of approximately $527,000. “As a result, our independent registered public accounting firm has expressed substantial doubt as to our ability to continue as a going concern,” the filing said.
Stantonsburg is a town of about 750 residents in southeastern Wilson County.
Buffett’s sale of Bank of America raises `warning’
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has sold about $10 billion of Bank of America shares since early summer, a move described in a sell-rating report posted yesterday on Seeking Alpha as a likely effort to generate cash before a possible bear market.
An analysis of the Charlotte-based bank’s price to trailing sales ratio and other technical indicators highlights “a rare sell signal, suggesting material downside risk, especially in a recession scenario,” private investor and speculator Paul Franke wrote on Seeking Alpha, an online financial research site.
Citing “limited upside potential matched against the substantial risk of loss,” Franke said he’s maintaining his sell rating on Bank of America for the next 12 months.
The second-biggest U.S. bank plans to release its third-quarter earnings report Tuesday, Oct. 15. For now, it’s benefiting from what Franke described as “a kind of best-of-all-worlds banking situation, with high borrowing rates for loan originations on one hand and limited loan default stats on the other.’’
Bank of America’s “consumer and small business loan focus looks like a winner when times are good,” he said. “Operating problems appear in a recession, as credit quality issues and loan write-offs explode.”
Noting that Bank of America shares have declined in six of the last seven recessions, Franke said that “over the past 16 years, shares have eked out an annualized advance of just +1.7%. You would have earned a greater sum plainly by owning CDs issued by Bank of America.”
The stock is trading around $40, down more than 10% from its 52-week high of $44.44. If the shares are to trade above $40 next year, the ‘Goldilocks’ economy of 2024 must continue, according to Franke.
“We need to see inflation and interest rates backpedal some more,” he said. In addition, the U.S. economy can’t slow from its real GDP growth rate of 2% or more, while confidence in the U.S. equity market “must remain abnormally exuberant,” based on capital flows and sentiment surveys, he said.
“If any of these three pillars for a sound economy with a boom in stocks reverses, BAC’s share price will likely suffer,” Franke said. If the economy sinks into “a mild recession,” the stock may tumble before $30 and under $20 with “a major drop in economic activity crossed with rising inflation.”
Franke said he believes that’s “the risk side of the investment equation Berkshire managers like Buffett seem to be focused on.
“In my view, upside potential is sorely lacking in the stock if earnings are peaking in 2024,” he said. “When times are good and have been for a stretch of years, selling banks and financials can seem nonsensical. Yet, Warren Buffett is doing so (having liquidated much of his bank/financial holdings during 2023-24) because the industry is quite cyclical in nature.”
State lawmakers pass $273M Helene relief bill with voting changes to more counties
North Carolina legislators completed an initial $273 million relief package Wednesday to help spur recovery from Hurricane Helene, describing it as a down payment on aid and a way to help hard-hit counties gain more flexibility in holding elections already underway. The legislation was approved unanimously in the House and Senate.
Doctors who left Atrium now partnering with private equity
Six years after breaking away from Atrium Health to build Charlotte’s largest independent physician practice, the doctors at Tryon Medical Partners are teaming up with a private equity firm in a move they say will help them reach more patients. The deal gives San Francisco-based TPG a stake in the business side of the practice.
N.C. homeowners’ insurance rate likely to continue through election
The state’s department of insurance kicked off a hearing into insurance companies’ request to raise homeowners’ approved rates statewide by an average 42.2%. The hearing is expected to take weeks. Unlike his predecessors, Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey wasn’t there to preside over the hearing. In his eight years, Causey has raised property insurance rates 16 times.
Disruption from port strike still hampering WNC recovery
Even though East and Gulf Coast longshoremen agreed to return to work, their three-day strike at the port in Wilmington could have a ripple of negative effects on the North Carolina economy, potentially hampering recovery efforts in Western counties. Essential lumber products and other construction materials enter the state via the Wilmington port.
The Good Wurst Co. shutters Charlotte South End restaurant
The Good Wurst Co. has permanently closed its South End restaurant in Charlotte — and its landlord is seeking nearly $1.2 million in damages. The restaurant’s ownership faces an ongoing legal battle with Tryon Investors (aka Tryon Owners) — an LLC for Vantage South End — according to documents filed in Mecklenburg County Superior Court.
Another Novant Health executive departs for UNC Health
Chad Setliff, president and COO of Novant Health’s greater Winston-Salem market and Forsyth Medical Center, has been named president of UNC Health Rex and Triangle East. He will oversee UNC’s hospitals in Raleigh, Holly Springs, Clayton and Smithfield. Setliff follows in the footsteps of former Novant COO Jeff Lindsay who left in December to join UNC.
Big Lots adds dozens of locations to closing list including two more in N.C.
Big Lots is planning to close another 150 stores nationwide, the discount retailer revealed in recent filings as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy process. In the latest filing, the Columbus, Ohio-based company identified 46 locations it plans to close across 23 states. Two of those are in North Carolina, one each in Raleigh and Matthews.