May 11, 2021 - An investor in shares of PureCycle Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: PCT) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida over alleged violations of Federal Securities Laws by PureCycle Technologies, Inc. in connection with certain allegedly false and misleading statements made between November 16, 2020 and May 5, 2021.

Orlando, FL based PureCycle Technologies LLC produces recycled polypropylene. Through November 2020, ROCH was a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (“SPAC”).

On November 16, 2020, PureCycle announced that PureCycle would list its common stock on the NASDAQ through a reverse merger with the Roth CH Acquisition I Co. SPAC. At that time, PureCycle claimed that PureCycle was then modeling for its revenues to hit $8 million in 2022 as its first plant came on line. Revenues would then ramp up significantly to $224 million in 2023 with the first five plants coming on line. By 2024, PureCycle said it was modeling to hit $800 million in revenues, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization margins of over 50%. The price of PureCycle common stock (then still trading as ROCH) spiraled up as PureCycle made additional statements about the merger, which its shareholders approved at a special meeting held virtually on March 16, 2021.

On May 6, 2021, Hindenburg Research issued a report concerning PureCycle Technologies, Inc. wherein Hindenburg Research detailed a series of alarming red flags about PureCycle. Specifically, the report stated, "PureCycle is the latest zero-revenue, ESG-themed SPAC taken public with a bold story about how it will someday revolutionize the plastics recycling industry." Further stating, "The company's insiders and SPAC sponsors do not seem inclined to wait to see how its claims will work out: they've collectively positioned themselves to clear ~$90 million in cash and tradable shares before the company generates a single dime in revenue." Additionally, the report stated that "PureCycle's Chairman/CEO and other associated executives collectively took 6 companies public prior to PureCycle. All have failed, resulting in 2 bankruptcies, 3 delistings, and 1 acquisition after a ~95% decline. Over $760 million in public shareholder capital was incinerated in the process."

Shares of PureCycle Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: PCT) declined from $28.25 per share on April 27, 2021, to as low as $12.54 per share on May 10, 2021.

According to the complaint the plaintiff alleges on behalf of purchasers of PureCycle Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: PCT) common shares between November 16, 2020 and May 5, 2021, that the defendants violated Federal Securities Laws. More specifically, the plaintiff claims that between November 16, 2020 and May 5, 2021, the defendants made false and misleading statements and failed to disclose that the management team bringing PureCycle public had previously brought six other failed business public only to have each implode thereafter, that the management team bringing PureCycle public had characterized rank speculation as financial projections to investors in the past, that the primary motivation of the management team bringing PureCycle public was to complete any transaction, good or bad, to obtain tens of millions of dollars in cash and tradable shares, that PureCycle faces higher competition for high quality feedstock than it has led investors to believe, materially undermining the management team’s financial projections, that PureCycle’s patent is nowhere as cogent or valuable as it has led investors to believe, and the technology underlying its business operations is unproven and presents serious issues even at lab scale, that in reality, PureCycle’s flammable pressurized process is not yet functional, especially at scale, and is dangerous, that PureCycle purports to be advancing to commercial production scale despite still having operational issues at a lab scale, and that as a result, defendants’ positive statements during the Class Period about PureCycle’s business performance, financial and operational metrics, and financial prospects were false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.