Long Blockchain names new CEO, plans iced tea spinoff

Farmingdale-based Long Blockchain Corp. Tuesday announced a plan to spin off its iced tea business to shareholders, and appoint a new chief executive.

Shamyl Malik, a member of the board of directors since Jan. 2 and chairman of the company’s blockchain strategy committee, was named chief executive effective immediately, replacing Philip Thomas.

Malik previously served as global head of trading at Voltaire Capital, a financial firm with offices in Chicago and London, head of foreign exchange electronic trading at Manhattan-based Morgan Stanley, and head of electronic market making for emerging markets and precious metals in the capital markets division at Manhattan-based Citibank.

Shares of the company, formerly known as Long Island Iced Tea Corp., fell 1.2 percent Tuesday to close at $3.19.

The company’s stock soared as high as $9.49 in December after it announced it was shifting focus from producing iced tea to businesses involving cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and blockchain technologies.

Bitcoin and other types of cryptocurrencies are digital currencies that are not controlled by a centralized bank or government and allow users to spend money anonymously. The coins are created by users who “mine” them by lending computing power to verify other users’ transactions. They receive coins in exchange. A blockchain is a decentralized digital ledger of every transaction in the currency.

“We see an attractive opportunity to develop blockchain solutions for the global financial markets,” Malik said in a statement, adding that the company is evaluating “complimentary merger targets.”

Bill Hayde, chairman of the board, said, “Shamyl’s appointment to CEO is a valuable development in accelerating the company’s business transition.”

The company said it plans to spin off its iced tea subsidiary, Long Island Brand Beverages LLC, in the second quarter of 2018 “with the intention to maintain a public listing for the beverage business.”

Thomas, who remains on Long Blockchain’s board of directors, will be a member of the board of the beverage business once the spinoff is completed, the company said.

On Friday, Long Blockchain disclosed in a government filing that it had received a new delisting notice from the Nasdaq Stock Market. The company said it would file an appeal by the deadline this Thursday.

By Ken Schachter

kenneth.schachter@newsday.comkschach

Ken Schachter covers corporate news, including technology and aerospace, and other business topics for Newsday. He has also worked at The Miami Herald and The Jerusalem Post.