The mysterious $ 100 million company, which owns a single delicatessen store in New Jersey as of Monday, killed a consultancy agreement Monday through which a company controlled by the deli chairman’s father was paying $ 15,000 a month.
Hometown International’s move to terminate its advisory agreement with Tryon Capital LLC by mutual agreement came after CNBC detailed the close relationship between Tryon’s Peter Coker Sr. and the deli owner, chaired by Peter Coker Jr.
At the same time, E-Waste, a Shell company affiliated with Coker Sr. and Hometown International, terminated its own consultancy agreement that paid Tryon Capital $ 2,500 per month.
An 8-K announcement from Hometown International on Monday announcing the end of the agreement mentioned “the recent negative press” regarding this company “and Tryon’s clients”.
The end of the deal was praised by Manoj Jain, founder of Maso Capital in Hong Kong, a major investor in Hometown International. Jain is also involved in e-waste-related efforts.
Jain made a statement referring to CNBC’s coverage last week of Peter Coker Sr. and those associated with Tryon Capital, as well as e-waste.
“We are very concerned about these serious allegations and are pleased that the relationship between the two companies and Tryon Consulting has now ended,” Jain said in a statement to CNBC.
“We look forward to both public companies advancing their stated acquisition plans,” said Jain.
Jain owns sole voting rights over approximately 2.5 million common shares of Hometown International, or more than 20% of the nearly 8 million outstanding common shares of Hometown International.
The end of the deal comes after Hometown International was delisted from a more prestigious over-the-counter market platform and relegated to the pink market last week. It was also given a warning sign “buyers beware”.
CNBC has detailed how Peter Coker Sr., who holds more than 63,000 common shares of Hometown, has been sued in the past for allegedly hiding money from creditors and corporate-related fraud. He has denied these allegations.
It was reported that Coker Sr. was arrested in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in August 1992 and “charged with prostitution and other crimes after allegedly exposing himself to three girls while driving around a school one night.” Coker Sr. has not returned repeated requests for comments.
CNBC has also detailed Coker Sr.’s links with E-Waste, the termination of the consultancy agreement with Tryon was also announced in an 8-K, the language of which was almost identical to that of the Hometown International filing.
Coker Sr.’s partner in Tryon Capital, Peter Reichard, stepped in on a criminal case in 2011 that resulted in his conviction that a program illegally contributed thousands of dollars to the successful 2008 campaign for Democrat Bev Perdue in North Carolina, Who Has won the race?
The program involved the use of a fake advisory contract between Tryon Capital Ventures and a fast food franchisee who wanted to endorse Perdue. Coker Sr. was not charged in this case.
Reichard is also a managing director with Coker Sr. of a company called Europa Capital Investments, which owns 90,400 common shares of Hometown International and has warrants for an additional 1.9 million shares.
James Patten, whose LinkedIn profile identifies him as a financial analyst with Tryon Capital from Coker Sr., wrestled with Hometown International CEO Paul Morina in high school. Your hometown deli is in Paulsboro, New Jersey, just across from Philadelphia.
Morina is the principal of Paulsboro High School and trainer of the renowned wrestling team at that school.
Patten is banned from working as a stockbroker or working with broker-dealers by FINRA, the broker-dealer regulator, according to the database of that regulator.
The company’s advisory agreement with Tryon Capital was signed last May while the delicatessen store closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In its filing with the SEC on Monday, Hometown International said:
“On April 26, 2021, Hometown International, Inc., a Nevada company (the” Company “), and Tryon Capital, LLC, a North Carolina limited company (” Tryon “) entered into a termination agreement Consulting Agreement “), according to which they have mutually agreed to terminate the consulting agreement dated May 1, 2020 between the parties (the” Consulting Agreement “), whereby this termination will take effect immediately.”
“The parties have also agreed to exempt each other from any claims in connection with the consulting contract,” the filing states.
“Given the recent negative press regarding the company and Tryon’s clients, the parties determined that it was in the best interests of the company and its shareholders to terminate the advisory agreement at this point,” the filing stated.
“The parties believe such termination will reduce distractions and allow the company to advance its proposed acquisition strategy.”
The submission was signed by Morina.
Hometown International conducted a comprehensive review after hedge fund manager David Einhorn found the company’s market cap exceeded $ 100 million, despite its only business being a tiny deli in Paulsboro.
The delicatessen store made just $ 35,000 or revenue for 2019 and 2020 combined.