Nasdaq delists Aspen Technology

Processing software company Aspen Technology Inc. said today it will be delisted from Nasdaq after the company missed several filing deadlines.

The delisting takes effect when Nasdaq opens for trading Tuesday.

Aspen said it may seek a review from the Nasdaq Listing and Hearing Review Council, which could alter or dismiss Nasdaq rulings.

However, Aspen said such a request will not delay the delisting, and it now expects to be quoted on the Pink Sheet Electronic Quotation Service. The Pink Sheets allow continued trading on delisting companies.

Chief Executive Mark Fusco said he was disappointed with the result and said Aspen remains a financially strong company.

The delisting follows a long series of filing delays in 2007 and 2008.

In a strongly worded analyst note in January, Jefferies & Co. analyst Robert Schwartz warned that the company was in danger of delisting after Aspen reported incomplete results for its fiscal second quarter.

He said Aspen had a transparency problem and is stuck in "restatement purgatory".

Schwartz described Aspen's limited second-quarter release as "yet another disappointing installment in their long-running accounting saga."

Nasdaq granted Aspen an extension for filing its 2007 fourth-quarter and 2008 first-quarter results, as well as restatements for fiscal 2005 and 2007. However, Aspen said it would not be able to meet that deadline and asked Nasdaq for an extension to Feb. 8. It also failed to meet that deadline and missed another deadline for its second-quarter results.

Deloitte & Touche asked not to be reappointed as Aspen's accounting firm for 2008, which Schwartz described as "a new chapter in this epic."

Aspen provides supply chain management, plant operations and other software for oil, gas, petrochemical and other industries. (AP)