NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Allied Esports Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AESE) (the “Company” or “AESE”), a global esports entertainment company, today filed a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) announcing the Company’s receipt of a notice (the “Notice”) from Nasdaq notifying the Company that the Company is not in compliance with the periodic filing requirements for continued listing set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1) (the “Rule”) as a result of its failure to file its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 (the “Form 10-K”) with the SEC by the required due date.
Under the Nasdaq rules, the Company has 60 calendar days from receipt of the Notice to submit a plan to regain compliance with the Rule. If Nasdaq accepts the Company’s plan, then Nasdaq may grant an exception of up to 180 calendar days from the due date of the Form 10-K to regain compliance. However, there can be no assurance that Nasdaq will accept the Company’s plan to regain compliance or that the Company will be able to regain compliance within any extension period granted by Nasdaq. If Nasdaq does not accept the Company’s plan, then the Company will have the opportunity to appeal that decision to a Nasdaq hearings panel. The notice received from Nasdaq has no immediate effect on the listing or trading of the Company’s shares of common stock. However, if the Company fails to timely regain compliance with the Rule, the Company’s shares of common stock will be subject to delisting from Nasdaq.
In July 2021, the Company sold its World Poker Tour business (the “WPT”) to a third party. The Company’s auditors have requested the verification of certain information related to the operations of WPT prior to the sale as part of the preparation of the Form 10-K, which the Company is coordinating with WPT to provide as expeditiously as possible.
About Allied Esports Entertainment
Allied Esports Entertainment, Inc. (Nasdaq: AESE) is a global esports entertainment venture dedicated to providing transformative live experiences, multiplatform content and interactive services to audiences worldwide. For more information, visit alliedesports.gg.
Forward-Looking Statements
This communication contains certain forward-looking statements under federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements may include our statements regarding our goals, beliefs, strategies, objectives, plans, including product and service developments, future financial conditions, results or projections or current expectations. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “intend” or “continue,” the negative of such terms, or other comparable terminology. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results, and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside our control, that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements. Important factors, among others, that may affect actual results or outcomes include: the ability to meet Nasdaq’s continued listing standards; our ability to execute on our business plan; the ability to retain key personnel; potential litigation; general economic and market conditions impacting demand for our services; a change in our plans to retain the net cash proceeds from the WPT sale transaction; our inability to enter into one or more future acquisition or strategic transactions using the net proceeds from the WPT sale transaction; and our ability, or a decision not to pursue strategic options for the esports business. You should consider the areas of risk described in connection with any forward-looking statements that may be made herein. The business and operations of AESE are subject to substantial risks, which increase the uncertainty inherent in the forward-looking statements contained in this communication. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to release publicly the result of any revision to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Further information on potential factors that could affect our business and results is described under “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, as filed with the SEC on April 13, 2021, as well as subsequent reports we file with the SEC. Readers are also urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures we made in such Annual Report on Form 10-K and in subsequent reports with the SEC.