MoviePass Seeks to Bolster Shares With 1-for-500 Reverse Split

(Bloomberg) -- Helios & Matheson Inc., owner of the struggling MoviePass subscription service, will ask investors to approve a 1-for-500 reverse stock split in a bid to bolster its sagging shares price.

The company announced the move in a filing Monday, a day when its stock dipped below 2 cents in New York. The shares have lost almost all of their value this year, battered by fears that the money-losing MoviePass service won’t survive.

The reverse split is the second by the company, which has had to restrict use of its monthly movie subscription service to retain cash. The stock split 1-for-250 on July 24. The company also needs to add a new independent director to meet Nasdaq listing rules after the resignation of Carl J. Schramm earlier this month.

Without that previous split, the stock would be trading at about $0.00007 a share.

According to the filing, the company’s biggest stockholders now are Hudson Bay Capital Management LP, which holds 48 percent of a preferred stock, and Discover Growth Fund, at 24 percent.

--With assistance from Zeke Faux.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rob Golum in Los Angeles at rgolum@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net

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