INCE.L Share Chat (INCE)

I've just spoken to the Administrators (Quantuma Advisory Limited) and have been told that it is highly unlikely that shareholders will receive any funds back. We are at the bottom of the list well behind creditors, suppliers and HMRC. HMRC alone are owed over £10 million.

I'm gutted, I've have lost just over £15,000 mainly due to the BS told by Adrian Biles and then getting locked in just after Xmas.

Very distasteful behaviour by management. I'm disappointed in the LSE for allowing this type of thing to happen on AIM and it reflects badly for London markets.

Having recently raised money, management used the delayed audit excuse but meanwhile managed to sell or close pieces of the businesses during this time without so much as a vote from shareholders. After the shares become non-tradable for shareholders, the company was then put in administration and then sold from under existing shareholders, all without any semblance of a vote. The final insult is that management were not affected and have managed to keep their jobs with the new firm. The lack of corporate governance is appalling. The situation is also ripe with conflicts of interest as it relates to Arden, which was sold for a pittance, barely more than six months after it was first acquired.

If there is a lawsuit being filed, please disclose Lawyer details here so we can all get in touch. I'm happy to share in the legal fees.

Interesting that in the background the Biles have been registering Ince company names on Companies House. One of the Directors at Axiom is ex gordon Dadds. You wonder how a firm like Axiom can buy Ince and where the funding is coming from. Is this a trojan horse for the Biles to get back into the business?

Does anyone know if shareholders have ever gotten some money back after such a pre pack deal ?

Any idea what the sale will mean for our share holdings?

https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/administrators-arrange-sale-of-ince-group-through-pre-pack-deal/5115888.article

What are the chances?

Thanks for the reply.

Will have to keep our fingers crossed for a buyer; at this point something is better then nothing.. Astounded that Ince were suspended from trading for so long otherwise I would have sold in January.

I wondered whether it was worth contacting Alan and Samantha Sellers to see whether PI's could be part of their class action against Ince but I expect not.

I know mate, I think we have all been financially shafted with this one! There are a few things that could play out here but difficult to determine without knowing the final position of the balance sheet.

The administrators will aim to find a buyer of the business or will look to liquidate the business to settle the creditors currently outstanding. Once they have settled all creditors, any surplus is returned to the shareholders. I am sorry to say this but the best I am expecting is nada. I am also hoping that we get back some of our investment too my friend, but the administration process can be fairly drawn out from what I can gather. Therefore it may be a while until we know what the outcome is.

Hoping for your advice.

I've never been invested in a company that's gone into administration before and wondering what if anything we may get back?
Ince has put me well under water and hope to god that we get back some of our investment.

Acquisition of Arden Partners PLC

When we were informed on 6 April 2022 that the London Stock Exchange had notified Arden that its application for continued Nominated Adviser status following a change of control had not been approved, the acquisition still represented good value for Ince shareholders and that the original rationale had not been severely impacted. We were pleased then that the acquisition of Arden subsequently completed on 28 April and we are now starting to capitalise on the identified synergies and cross-selling opportunities.

https://www.tradewindsnews.com/law/major-shareholders-plan-to-sue-collapsed-ince-group-officers-for-misleading-statements-/2-1-1434043

Well, should have read the News below before replying.

That's put a big smile on my face.

Evening APD.

My original position was in Arden, of which I was up nicely also. However, it was so illiquid, every time I tried to take the profit, the MM's whacked it. I mean they were 26 bid, and to sell 10k was miles away.
Ince came in and Bid for them, so I figured a decent-sized company with circa £100m T/O might be the way forward.

The bulk of the position was after the fundraise, on the back of stakebuilding to average the position. Foolishly thought it may recover.

With regards to Alan and his Wife's intentions, I have my own opinions on what might happen next, but for obvious reasons, I'm not going to voice them here. I'm no Legal Eagle and Alan looks like he might get the hump and unleash hell on you if the wrong thing was said (if you know what I mean).

Whatever happens now, I'll be seriously surprised if it benefits any of the small shareholders like you or I.

Hi Harry, believe it or not, I was once 140% up on this share but never sold thinking this would even better over 5 years - massive lesson learned.

Just read your comments about Alan and his wife's stake (and also the present CEO's circa £1m stake) and when I saw Alan's stake I was going to buy more but I didn't as the CFO, Simon never bought a share which alarmed me.

Do you think Alan, his wife and the present CEO will buy it for peanuts and take it private???

Chin up Gilby, I think more than a few of us have been kicked around the pitch this past few months.

Relentless!!

Knew I should never have invested in a lawyer firm,bunch of charlatans. Doing well this last few weeks, Ince,Cineworld and applied graphene materials all part of my portfolio. Hey ho f**k this AIM market.

Surely this state of affairs should be thoroughly investigated and the BOD includes the ones that left should be held responsible.
Bunch of bandits.

Only 10 days ago, Ince announced that they had changed brokers to Allenby Capital Limited.
Yesterday Ince went into administration and now Allenby Capital Limited have resigned. If no new broker is found with the next month the company will be delisted.....WTF!

Couldn’t agree more, how can Biles be held account for his actions though? Is there anything that can be done?

It was so strange to go to all that effort to merge Arden with Ince, only to then punt off Arden at a giveaway price. Nothing makes sense with this firm. The company seemed to have managed fine before that merger, the fact name goes back 150 years it's pretty incredible the extent management botched this.

Everything so opaque, you get the sense investors don't know the half of what really went on here. Although it's now clear that when they said strategic disposals what they really meant was desperate fire sale.

But despite going through the drawn-out process, Ince today said Arden has underperformed financially in recent months. A stock exchange statement said: ‘The most recent audited annual results of Arden for the year to 31 October 2021 show revenues of £9.28m and a profit before taxation of £0.85m, with net assets at 31 October 2021 of £5.76m.

‘Since then the Arden revenues for the current financial year to date have declined significantly. This decline is largely attributed to the increasingly challenging fundraising market and wider economic conditions in the UK since early 2022. As a result, Arden is currently loss making and the opportunities and benefits that were identified by Ince at the time of the acquisition of Arden are now not expected to be achievable for the group, given its current resources.’

As such, Arden is being sold to financial services group Zeus at a hefty mark-down price of £1m, albeit Ince noted it will be due a further £2m in earnout consideration payable ‘based on certain Arden revenues received by Zeus in the three months following completion.’

There are so many issues over the past 2 years that need investigating.

1) Adrian Biles huge 2021 bonus
2) The fact they bought Arden for £10m only to sell it for £1m less then a year later claiming it was loss making
3) The behaviour of Adrian Biles, family and executives
4) The incredible amount of time this company has been suspended from trading over the past year which has made it
impossible to get out of.
5) The assets they have sold for £2.7m over the past 4/5 months

I've already lost thousands on this company, largely due to believing the borderline lies.

Stunning, feel for holders here, major questions need to be asked about management knew and when. To go from delayed results to death is a p*sstake even by AIM standards. That fund raise last year was surely based on false pretences? FCA need to wake up and start actually scrutinizing these crooked outfits.

Just when you thought this company couldn't possibly get any worse.....Bang!

what a bunch of utter ******s!

Administration….