Re CEO. Those are good points Gooch
1. CEO hire delayed until milestone announcements when the new CEO can be seen as having a large role in the deals. As many recall this was in fact one of the statements made about the hiring of a new CEO.
CEO search update from Jan 8 NR:
Poet recently announced that Ajit Manocha, co-chairman, had been appointed to the corporate governance and nominating committee, subject to board approval, with the mandate to identify and consider candidates for the permanent chief executive officer role. Mr. Manocha noted: "Several high-quality candidates are being considered. We hope in the near term to identify Poet's permanent CEO who will continue the process technology development and help us close key industry partnership deals. We look forward to identifying the right successor."
In addition, over the next few months, the company intends to add directors, key executives and operational staff focusing on increasing Poet's presence in the United States.
Your other reason for a potential delay also has merit and it is not the first time I have heard this.
If POET was in the process of being sold (or possible merger) contingent on the milestone results then a new CEO would not be required. And as you have stated this would be very confidential with no expectation of pre-announced intent.
The one thing I would not really place a lot of merit on is Geoff wanting an exit strategy. I believe he will be with this company at least until this technology becomes commercialized.
