Mega's NZX reverse listing deadline extended — again

Mega has again extended the deadline for its reverse listing on the NZX, this time from March 31 to May 29.

The Kim Dotcom-founded file sharing service initially planned to list on June 30 last year.

In a brief statement to the NZX (see end of article), no reason was given for the latest extension.

PayPal stopped processing payments for Mega on February 27.

Mega says the move was made because of political pressure on MasterCard and Visa over alleged piracy. The Big Two credit card companies in turn pressured PayPal to pull the plug.

MasterCard, Visa and Paypal have declined NBR's requests for comment.

Mega chief compliance officer Stephen Hall says the latest extension is not related to the PayPal situation.

"The 31 March date was an interim extension by which we hoped that the deal could have been unconditional but we are progressing with procedural issues that have taken longer than expected," he says.

A replacement solution for processing subscription payments is being lined up but he won't say if it will support Visa and MasterCard payments.

Mega chief executive Graham Gaylard recently said his company was consulting with lawyers over its payment processing situation.

"Mega needs to defend itself and will now cease taking a passive stance," he said.

PayPal Asia Pacific communications manager Shanta Arul told NBR, "PayPal has decided to end our relationship with Mega for business reasons. We respect the privacy of all our customers and former customers and will not provide further details about this decision."

Other complications in the business life of Mega have included an ASIC investigation into TRS majority shareholder Paul Choiselat for alleged market manipulation, and police seizing Mega shares held by William Yan.

A statement to the NZX by TRS (the vehicle for Mega's reverse listing) today says: 

The Board of TRS Investments Limited advises that the date for the satisfaction of the conditions to the Mega Limited transaction (mainly TRS shareholder approvals) has been extended from 31 March 2015 to 29 May 2015. The TRS Board do not anticipate the need for any further extension of the conditional date.