Placings and IPOs

Continued strong fundraising activity on AIM

Allenby Capital, whose CEO Nick Naylor spoke at ShareSoc's Investing Masterclass on Remuneration, have just issued their quarterly update which shows the way the AIM market continues to help companies requiring capital. AIM is playing an important role in these difficult Covid times, writes ShareSoc Director Cliff Weight. Key points in the report: AIM continued its strong fundraising performance in Q3 2020. By the end of September, the total funds raised year to date of £4,085m had already surpassed the £3,997m raised ...

Pre-Emption Group (PEG) extends the easing of its issuance guidelines

Cliff Weight, Director, ShareSoc gives his personal views below which may not necessarily reflect ShareSoc's view. UK-listed companies hit by Covid-19 are being given an additional lifeline as the Pre-Emption Group (PEG) extends the easing of its issuance guidelines, allowing more share capital to be raised from shareholders. The PEG, the affiliate of the Financial Reporting Council that provides guidance on fundraisings and rights issues, has confirmed that the additional flexibilities put in place at the height of the pandemic will be extended ...

Learning Technologies and Ten Entertainment AGMs

I “attended” the on-line Annual General Meeting of Learning Technologies Group (LTG) today. Full members of ShareSoc can find my report on that meeting here: https://www.sharesoc.org/agm-reports/learning-technologies-agm-report-2020/ Another recent AGM of an AIM company was that of bowling alley operator Ten Entertainment (TEG) for which I hold all of 50 shares. I sold almost all my holding before they had to close all their venues. This was another company that did a placing recently but it is hardly surprising in this case that ...

Ocado Placing Does Not Respect Shareholder Rights?

Under the Companies Act 2006, pre-emption rights allow existing shareholders the ‘right of first refusal’ when new shares are issued.  According to 561(1) of the 2006 Act, shares cannot be offered to another person until an offer has been made (on the same or more favourable terms) to each existing shareholder, and any time limit given for the offer has expired. At its core, this enables such individuals to protect their existing shareholding against further dilution of their shares – but typically ...

Babcock Price Fall, Segro Placing, TR Property

I said in a previous blog post “that I tend to avoid FTSE-100 companies as their share prices are driven by professional analysts’ comments, by geo-political concerns, by general economic trends and by commodity prices. You can buy a FTSE-100 company and soon find it’s going downhill because one influential analyst has decided its prospects are not as they previously thought”. Indeed that is exactly what happened after I made a recent purchase of Babcock International (BAB). Soon after, Shore Capital Markets ...

More on Placings – AVACTA

AVACTA (AVCT) has seen its share price rise from 100p on May 13 to 200p and then decline to 140p. I feel sorry for those investors who bought at around 200p. The sharp decline in the share price (20p on Tuesday and 20p on Wednesday) could be evidence that this deal has leaked. Source: Interactive Investor The £25m placing price is 120p, so the fact that the share price is staying stable today at 140p (at 09.48 as I write) suggests, in my  opinion, ...

www.allinvestorsmatter.co.uk – Access to fund raises

Please sign the petition, asking issuers to include retail investors when issuing shares, if you have not already done so. See www.allinvestorsmatter.co.uk The petition already has over 1,000 signatures. Signatories include: Mark Northway, Chairman, ShareSoc Lord Lee of Trafford DL FCA House of Lords Adam McConkey, Chairman, Quoted Companies Alliance Sarah Wilson, CEO, Minerva Analytics Ltd Andy Bell, Founder & CEO AJ Bell Peter Hargreaves, Founder Hargreaves Lansdown Paul Killik, Senior Executive Officer, Killik & Co Gavin Oldham OBE, Chairman Share plc/The Share Centre  ...

An Urgent Call to Include Individual Shareholders in New Issues – Sign Now!

Treat all shareholders fairly. There is no need to ignore individual shareholders in raising funds. Sign the petition now https://allinvestorsmatter.co.uk The Times reported today 20 April 2020 our letter (see https://allinvestorsmatter.co.uk/) which was co-signed by Mark Northway, Chairman of ShareSoc, our Patron Lord Lee (John Lee) , PrimaryBid and an impressive list of industry heavyweights. We have been working closely with PrimaryBid on this initiative. The Times article is here: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/city-chiefs-demand-fair-shares-for-equity-raises-hr9fhzzb8 This is an urgent call for UK PLCs, industry bodies, regulators, investors, ...

Fund Raises – Why and How Retail Shareholders Should be Included.

We remain absolutely focused on making sure retail investors have fair access to fund raisings. This is important, now more than ever, as many companies plan to return to the equity markets to shore up balance sheets and reposition for the future. I would not like to see the current circumstances become an excuse for extracting value from minority and small shareholders. Marcus Stuttard, Head of UK Primary Markets, London Stock Exchange is very clear: “Retail or individual investor participation, is really ...

Profit Warnings at XP Power and Ted Baker, plus Mercia Placing

A number of profit warnings this morning. The most interesting to me was at XP Power (XPP) although I do not hold it. It was interesting because as a...