Topline
The New Jersey deli that once was infamously the only asset of a publicly traded company worth over $100 million has shut down, according to a regulatory filing, quietly concluding a head scratching saga that encapsulated the peak of last year’s “meme stock” and reverse merger frenzies.
The mysterious New Jersey deli selling $7.75 cheesesteaks with a $100 million valuation has shut its … [+]
Key Facts
The sole location of Your Hometown Deli in the Philadelphia suburb of Paulsboro, New Jersey, closed June 30, the modest deli’s former parent company said in a Securities and Exchange filing this month first reported on by CNBC.
The public company, previously known as Hometown International, shot to a valuation of over $100 million last year despite its namesake deli pulling in about $13,000 in annual sales.
The company is now known as Makamer Holdings following a merger between the deli and the bioplastics maker Makamer in April, apparently confirming earlier speculation that the deli was a shell company ruse for an eventual reverse merger to take another company public.
Makamer sold off the deli’s remaining inventory for a paltry $700 on July 1, according to the filing, and offloaded its deli subsidiary for $15,000 on August 9.
A call to the phone number listed for the deli returned an error message, and Makamer’s investor relations phone number went straight to voicemail and the company did not immediately respond to Forbes’ emailed request for comment.
Key Background
A small town sandwich shop adorned with metal folding chairs and $7.75 cheesesteaks, Hometown Deli became the surprise subject of intense interest in April 2021 due to its parent company’s soaring stock price despite unusual financials, and experts asserted there was evidence of stock manipulation, with the stock rising more than 1,000% from its October 2019 initial public offering to April 2021. Hometown International shareholders fired the company’s CEO Paul Morina, a local high school wrestling coach and principal, in May 2021.
Crucial Quote
“The pastrami must be amazing,” David Einhorn, founder of the hedge fund Greenlight Capital, wrote in a note last April.
Further Reading
I ate lunch at N.J. deli supposedly worth $100 million. Here’s my 2 cents. (NJ.com)
The Mystery of the $113 Million Deli (New York Times)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/08/22/notorious-new-jersey-deli-once-worth-over-100-million-cut-cold-closes-doors/