Hawaiian Holdings investors at stalemate
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
Shareholders will need to wait to see what happens next now that the American Stock Exchange and Pacific Exchange halted trading of common stock shares for the parent company of Hawaiian Airlines after the company's transfer agent resigned Monday.
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Hawaiian Holdings Inc. owed an undisclosed amount of outstanding fees to Mellon Investor Services LLC, which had been responsible for transferring the securities ownership.
Hawaiian Airlines' parent, Hawaiian Holdings, owes fees to its securities-transfer agency, which resigned Monday. Trading of Hawaiian Holdings shares has been halted.
Mellon's resignation means that shareholders of Hawaiian Holdings will not be able to register ownership of their shares or have their shares transferred until a new transfer agent is appointed or Mellon is reinstated, according to documents Hawaiian filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Hawaiian Airlines, Hawai'i's largest carrier, filed for bankruptcy protection in March.
Investment managers said yesterday that Hawaiian Holdings shareholders have no choices now that trading has been suspended.
"What do you tell them?" said Clifford Tobita, Bishop Street branch manager of Raymond James Financial Services. "I don't think they have much choice but to wait. Even if you wanted to do something, you really can't."
David Nako, who runs one of the Bishop Street branches of Edward Jones Investments, said that "when trading's halted, they can't really do anything." But "when trading resumes, there may be a little selloff or it just might be written off altogether."
It was unclear when trading might resume.
Hawaiian declined to comment yesterday and referred questions to Judith Thoyer, an attorney for Hawaiian Holdings, but Thoyer's office said she would have no comment.
Hawaiian Holdings traded at 80 cents a share before activity was halted on Monday.
