He’s a legend in the wrestling of high school in New Jersey – and a mystery in the stock market.
Paul Morina, Principal of Paulsboro High School, New Jersey, is listed in financial records as the president, CEO, chief financial officer and more of a Nevada-listed company whose shares are trading at levels exceeding $ 100 million.
This is a strangely high valuation because the company, Hometown International, owns a delicacy – and only one small delicacy – in Paulsboro, where the wrestling team for high school boys by Morina regularly wins state championships. The company has announced that it has shareholders in Macau.
The store, the Hometown Deli, has generated just $ 35,000 in sales over the past two years, according to the annual report of Hometown International, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 26.
Hedge Fund Manager David Einhorn mentioned Hometown International in a letter to clients on Thursday, warning of the risks to retail investors.
“The pastrami must be incredible,” Einhorn lashed out at the company, whose shares rose from more than $ 9 per share to $ 3.25 per share from the end of March 2020 to early September, despite the deli – the only operating company – which was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. during that time frame.
Hometown International’s annual report shows that Morina, who is also the treasurer of the company and a director, owns 1.5 million ordinary shares in the company, with warrants for another 30 million shares. Morina owns 19% of Hometown’s outstanding 7.79 million ordinary shares.
On Thursday, the Hometown stock exchange, which trades thinly on the over-the-counter market, had a closing price of $ 13.50 per share.
That makes Morina’s ordinary shares worth only $ 20.5 million – at least on paper.
Data from FactSet shows that Hometown rarely exchanges more than a few hundred shares per day, and often has days on which no shares are exchanged.
CNBC told Morina, whose biography says in the SEC filing, that he had won 25 class championships as a coach, with more than 550 wins.
That biography does not say that Morina had previous experience in the food service industry.
Nevertheless, Hometown International said in its submission: “We believe that Mr. Morina’s in-depth knowledge and extensive experience make him a valuable member of our board.”
The documentation states that Hometown International, which was incorporated in 2014, has entered into a lease with Mantua Creek Group, of which Morina is a member, for its retail space.
Home business vice president and secretary is Christine Lindenmuth – a 46-year-old maths teacher at Paulsboro High School, according to the SEC filing.
Lindenmuth, who did not immediately respond to requests for comment, also appears to have no experience in the food service.
According to Hometown International, she believes that her ‘in-depth knowledge and extensive experience’ also makes her a valued director of the company.
According to the SEC filing, Lindenmuth does not hold any shares in the company.
The annual report reads: “The company currently has no full-time employees other than its officers and directors, Paul F. Morina, president, and Christine T. Lindenmuth.” It adds: “Both currently work for the company without compensation.”
Hometown’s annual report suggests that the company was founded with the idea of creating a chain store with “a new Delicatessen concept”.
“Through our wholly owned subsidiary, Your Hometown Deli Limited Liability Company (‘Your Hometown Deli’), we operate a delicatessen with ‘home’ sandwiches and other entrees in a comfortable and friendly atmosphere,” reads the documentation.
“The store is designed to serve local customers of all ages with comfortable community venues. The company’s first unit is aimed at smaller towns and communities in Paulsboro, New Jersey.”
But the place, a low, winding building, just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, remains the only store the company owns after about seven years in its business.
According to the annual report, the chairman of the company is Peter Coker Jr., who is listed as having no shares in Hometown International.
Coker’s bio in the company’s annual report states that the 1990 graduate of Lehigh University has been chairman of South Shore Holdings Limited since 2013, a Hong Kong-listed company.
It also states that Coker was the managing partner of Pacific Advisers and also was a partner in a Shenzhen-based private equity firm called TDR Capital Investment Ltd. from 2009 to 2013.
“From 2006 to 2009, Mr. Coker served as Chairman of Global Trading Offshore Pte (Singapore),” the documentation reads. “From 2002 to 2005, Mr Coker was the chairman of Wellington Securities (New Zealand). Mr Coker was an officer of the Bridge Companies before joining Wellington Securities (New Zealand) in 2002.”
Peter Coker Sr., a North Carolina resident, Coker’s father is being filed on the SEC and owns 63,334 shares in Hometown International, with a warrant for another 1.26 million shares.
CNBC commented on both Cokers.
Other owners of Hometown shares include Blackwell Partners LLC, Series A, which has an address in Hong Kong; and two other Hong Kong entities, Star V Partners LLC, and Maso Capital Investments Limited.
Four other companies or entities listed as Hometown International shareholders are based in Macau, China.
One of the Macau companies, VCH Limited, entered into a consulting agreement with Hometown International in May 2020.
“Under this agreement, VCH has been appointed as a consultant to the company to, among other things, create and build a presence with high net worth and institutional investors,” Hometown said in its annual report.
“The agreement lasts one year; however provided, that each party has the right to terminate the agreement with 30 days prior written notice to the other, ”reads the report.
“Under the agreement, VCH will receive $ 25,000 per month during the term of the agreement, in addition to reimbursement of expenses previously approved by the company.”
Hometown International posted a loss of $ 624,438 for 2020 and a loss of $ 153,930 for 2019, according to the firm’s annual report.
Many of the company’s cost increases in 2020 come from $ 320,000 in what he calls ‘consulting fees’.
Elder Coker has been identified in other documents filed by the SEC as the founder and managing director of Tryon Capital Ventures, a North Carolina entity that has a consulting agreement with Hometown that pays Tryon $ 15,000 a month.
“We expect to extend the term of the consultation agreement with Tryon for an additional term of one year,” the annual report reads.