The CEO for Loop Energy (TSX:LPEN) has resigned, following yesterday’s announcement that the company will amalgamate with another B.C. company in the hydrogen technology space, H2 Portable Power Corp.
In a material change report, Loop today announced that CEO Ben Nyland has resigned as CEO, but will stay on as a director.
His resignation was announced in conjunction with the signing of an amalgamation agreement with H2P.
Loop corporate secretary Paul Cataford has been named interim CEO, and Loop’s chief operating officer, Daryl Musselman, has been appointed both interim CFO and COO. Cataford will remain corporate secretary and director.
Both Loop Energy and H2 Portable are related in a sense in that they were both founded by David Leger.
Loop Energy introduced an innovation in hydrogen fuel cells – a technology it calls e-flow that improves airflow in the fuel cell.
The company went public in 2021, with a $100 million initial public offering.
It was bad timing, however. Coming out the pandemic, a lot of low-interest money had flowed into technology companies, but then started drying up later in 2022 and early 2023, as inflation, higher interest rates, fears of a recession and the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank popped the tech bubble.
Loop Energy posted net losses of $25 million in 2021, $37.5 million in 2022, and $30 million for the nine months ending in September 2023, and the company’s stock value has fallen 99 per cent, from $16.45 per share on February 26, 2021 to just $0.17 per share today.
In September, the company announced it would cut 65 per cent of its workforce and shut down a production facility in China.
