Assertio calls short-seller claims about accounting practices ‘false, baseless’

Assertio Holdings (ASRT) issued the following letter from CEO Brendan O’Grady in response to public comments made November 8, 2024 by a short-seller: “As many of you have been aware, Mr. Alex Parker, who operates Buxton Hemsley Group, announced his position as an activist investor in Assertio in April prior to my joining as CEO. Over the course of the past six months, Mr. Parker has wasted management and the board’s resources with the same repeated and baseless allegations. His allegations were nevertheless taken seriously by Assertio and were investigated only to be found completely without merit. Specifically, Mr. Parker made categorically false allegations concerning the safety and approval of Rolvedon and Assertio’s accounting practices. First, the Rolvedon BLA was fully reviewed by multiple professional firms who had access to the allegations made by the purported whistleblowers. Second, as Assertio has previously disclosed, the accounting charges for intangible asset impairments following the Spectrum merger were made in accordance with clear accounting principles. These facts have been communicated with the relevant details to Mr. Parker multiple times. After six months of unsuccessful attempts to extract money and a board position from Assertio, Mr. Parker, through his lawyers, contacted our legal team and proposed that Assertio pay his legal fees in exchange for dropping his activist activities. Our legal team asked BHG’s counsel to put his offer on paper for our board to review and discuss. That was two weeks ago and an offer from Mr. Parker never came. Instead, this past Friday, November 8, Mr. Parker shifted tactics, again releasing a number of false statements and baseless allegations against the company. At the same time, he stated he moved from activist investor to a short seller of our stock. We are reviewing all legal options, including referring Mr. Parker to the appropriate regulatory and enforcement authorities. We will continue to vigorously refute these baseless assertions against Assertio. I want to assure you that I am confident that there has been no wrongdoing on the part of Assertio. I look forward to our Q3 earnings release and call later today and to putting this distraction behind us so we can focus on our mission to grow Assertio and deliver value to the patients we serve as well as all of our stakeholders.”