Ants Postpones Stock Split

Ants Software.com postponed a 2-for-1 stock split scheduled for next week, sending its shares down 19%. Chairman Fred Pettit said the company changed its position on the planned move, announced Dec. 22, because shareholders haven’t approved the split or authorized the necessary increase in outstanding shares. Shares in Ants, which says its product can speed computer software, fell $4 to close at $17.25 in over-the-counter trading. The move comes after the recent resignations of Jaak Olesk as the company’s outside auditor and Donald Hutton as chairman, and the withdrawal of a stock registration filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in which it incorrectly represented that Hutton was a certified public accountant. Pettit also said the company has moved its headquarters from Hutton’s home in Santa Barbara to temporary quarters in Burlingame, Calif.